New Treatment Options For 18% Of New Zealanders Suffering From Tinnitus
New breakthroughs in tinnitus treatment presented by international audiological experts this week will provide welcome
relief for the estimated 700,000 New Zealanders suffering from the condition. The visiting experts are guest speakers at
the New Zealand Audiological Society's (NZAS) annual conference that starts in Wellington on Wednesday.
Tinnitus is the name given to sounds people can hear in their head that have no external sound source. Commonly
experienced as ringing, chirping or buzzing, tinnitus affects most people at some stage in their life, with 18 percent
of the population having the condition constantly, and 2-5 percent suffering from chronic symptoms.
US-based tinnitus expert Dr Pawel Jastreboff will outline recent developments with Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), a
treatment that gradually adjusts tinnitus sufferers to the tinnitus sound. Worldwide research and clinical tests suggest
that TRT provides improvement in around 80 percent of cases.
TRT aims to help patients 'tune out' the sound of their tinnitus through counselling and the use of low-level neutral
sounds to distract people from their tinnitus sound, in the same way that people adjust to sounds that are in their
environment everyday such as the sound of refrigerator motors.
In addition to speaking at the conference, Dr Jastreboff will run two special TRT workshops while he is in this
country.
"Tinnitus sufferers have often been told there is nothing that can be done for the condition, however there is an
increasing number of treatment options that are available," said NZAS President Dr Andrea Kelly.
"This year's conference aims to ensure New Zealand audiologists are aware of the latest developments in solutions for
people suffering from this debilitating and often highly distressing condition. The conference sessions will provide
valuable information about tinnitus management while the TRT workshops will increase the number of audiologists that are
trained to offer this treatment in New Zealand."
Other leading tinnitus experts speaking at the conference include Dr Paul Davis of Western Australia's Curtin
University of Technology and Grant Searchfield from The University of Auckland.
Dr Davis, who is also Chief Scientific Officer at Neuromonics, will speak about recent advances in tinnitus assessment
and counselling to assist audiologists to provide more effective support for people with tinnitus. Dr Davis will also
speak about a new treatment that he has developed through extensive clinical trials and which is now available in
Australia.
Mr Searchfield will present papers on research the University of Auckland has done into the effectiveness of hearing
aids in tinnitus management.
"The conference will provide an opportunity for audiologists to upskill in treatments that are currently available as
well as learning about those that will be available in the future," Dr Kelly said.
Dr Kelly urges people with tinnitus to seek advice from an audiologist.
"Worrying about tinnitus has been shown to make the condition worse. The first step that people can take to address
their tinnitus is to get advice from someone who is trained to treat it.
"Our message to tinnitus sufferers is that they don't need to put up with this annoying condition. Most audiologists
have had some training in tinnitus management and all audiologists should be able to refer people on to someone who can
provide an appropriate treatment based on their individual needs."
The New Zealand Audiological Society conference will take place at the Duxton Hotel from Wednesday 5 May until Saturday
8 May. Dr Pawel Jastreboff is being brought to New Zealand by Siemens; Dr Paul Davis is being brought to New Zealand by
Oticon.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Dr Pawel Jastreboff Dr Pawel Jastreboff is Director of the Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Centre at Emory University in
Atlanta, Georgia, which is regarded as a centre of excellence for tinnitus research and patient treatment. Together with
his wife, Dr Margaret Jastreboff, he has undertaken significant research into tinnitus and has lead TRT workshops in a
number of countries.
Dr Paul Davis
Dr Paul Davis is Associate Professor of Audiology at Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia and Chief
Scientific Officer at Neuromonics Ltd. A clinical audiologist who has developed a reputation as prominent tinnitus
researcher, Dr Davis has been active in research and development into new audiological device and fitting systems.
Grant D Searchfield
Grant D Searchfield is a lecturer in the Department of Audiology at The University of Auckland and is a clinician at the
University's Hearing and Tinnitus Clinic. Mr Searchfield heads a team of several researchers who are investigating the
use of new and emerging digital-audio technology to assist in tinnitus management.
New Zealand Audiological Society
The New Zealand Audiological Society (NZAS) is the professional body for audiologists in New Zealand. NZAS aims to
foster interest and excellence in audiology for the benefit of individuals with hearing loss and their families.
Tinnitus
* Tinnitus is the name given to the sounds that people can hear that have no external cause. Although usually
associated with hearing loss, tinnitus is also experienced by people with normal hearing.
* While tinnitus shows that some kind of damage has been done to the hearing mechanism, it does not mean the person is
going deaf.
* Tinnitus may be experienced as ringing, chirping, whirring, buzzing or roaring.
* There are many possible causes of tinnitus including wax pressing on the ear drum, damaged sensory cells in the inner
ear and exposure to loud noise.
* The most common cause of tinnitus is damage in the auditory system (such as the hair cells in the inner ear), which
allows abnormal messages to be perceived by the brain.
* There is no 'magic cure' for tinnitus but there is a range of treatments available including tinnitus retraining
therapy, 'masking' (use of sound to distract attention away from the tinnitus), hearing aids, sound devices and self
help groups.