Acoustic CR® Neuromodulation: Do It Yourself Guide

[Steve]

@Pum I dropped out after the initial period when I found out I was in the treatment group as it made me worse, I went into it really positively but it made my hearing dulled and gave me more frequencies. I mailed them recently with some suggestions on why that may be, copied below:

I'm not sure whether it is from having a different pattern in each ear, from the type of earphone used (I dislike in-ear models, they make my hearing feel dulled), from my inability to let the sound fade into the background (could not help but pay attention, maybe my musicians analytical side) or just that it isn't for me.

I await the trial data being published to see just how many people had a benefit and if I was an anomaly - and to see that I have been recorded properly in it.

Tinnitus treatment is a more recent addition to ANM Medical, they began in treating Parkinsons by direct electrical stimulation to the brain. The audio protocol for tinnitus came from that research.

 

[Frederick86]

I've been following the thread and just started to try ACR with the help of the page created by @generalfuzz, and it's working! (Congrats for your great work!) I have two tones that I want to reduce/eliminate, and I'm starting with the most annoying, a 1650hz frequency on the left ear (I think that is, as I achieve residual inhibition after a minute listening a tone generated at that value.)

Using a capture software, I recorded five minutes of the tones on a wav file to listen with the speaker of an ipod, and I let it on loop playing on background for four hours. After just a few minutes the tone wasn't there at all and it was replaced by a sea shell-like sound, and the other tinnitus sound I have was greatly reduced too (I think it could be a close enough frequency.)

So I wanted to say many thanks to @generalfuzz for setting up the page, but also have some questions for @Steve, as you have been on the real trial.

When I completed the four hours I had an electrical buzzing inside my head, around the centre, that has dissapeared after sleeping, and now I still have some electrical "sparkles" here and there, specially close to my other ear.

Those electrical noises are just a product of reorganizing neural activity and will dissapear, or is there a risk that a new path is created on the brain and they won't go after completing all the treatment? The 4 weeks of rest are for letting those noises go away? Did they told you something about this? Am I doing something wrong? Should I try 2 or 3 hours instead?

Also, after the first 12 weeks and resting 4 weeks, it's said that one must continue on regular intervals for another 22 weeks, do you know wich are those intervals?

 

[Steve]

Hi Frederick,

Because this is such a new treatment there isn't a great deal of information on what happens to you, or what should happen when it's working. I was told I may get a change in frequency, but I found the same thing as you when I started. I was getting some different noises that I thought may be from listening to the 4 tones for such a long time - kind of like an acoustic memory of them.

Other people using the tones and device have a very similar experience to you, a strange broad band hush sound. These seem to be the people who feel a benefit from the device so it sounds positive. It also seems common to have an electric type sound, I experienced a number of different sounds at first.

I was given the device and used it for 3 months straight, 4-6 hours a day with no days off. The trial was ongoing so I could have been using it constantly for longer than that, they didn't advise me to have any weeks off.

I think that treating each sound separately, as you are doing, may work best. Having 2 different tones, 1 playing in each ear, didn't work at all for me and may have been the reason I felt worse.

 

[Frederick86]

So when you say you had different sounds at first, that means those new sounds dissapeared later as you followed the treatment? Do you have still some electric sounds due to the treatment now that you ended the trial?

 

[object16]

hi, I use the DIY tones at my office IN ADDITION to constant white noise. I find the combination makes the tinnitus very difficult to identify, and so I have almost become addicted to work, because I like being in the office with this kind of sound going on. on the weekend, i just have restful rain at night time, pink noise, and sometimes MP3 of pink noise on week end. So far I have noticed it is getting definitely better. I'm not sure what the improvement is due to: natural fading away from a bad noise 2 weeks ago? or is the NM encouraging it to subside? i don't know this in just basically one week into it -

 

[Steve]

So when you say you had different sounds at first, that means those new sounds dissapeared later as you followed the treatment? Do you have still some electric sounds due to the treatment now that you ended the trial?

The extra noises I got from the treatment faded after I stopped. It took a little time to subside but they did go.

 

[Frederick86]

Thanks @Steve, that's good to know. After reading your experience, those of others in the other ACR thread, and the observations about safety in the original scientific report of the trial, I'm more confident that these additional changes are temporary, so for now I'll go on and I'll report here on the forum how I'm doing.

I must say that after the second session and sleeping, the electrical noises got calmer for a while, less "sparkly", and a bit quieter. I think those are just an increase of some subtle "static" that I already had but could only be felt on quiet rooms at night. So I guess that's the auditory cortex being overactive, specially now that is reorganizing under ACR, and then it makes sense that it makes noises that slowly fade away after treatment.

 

[Frederick86]

I'd like to tell all of you how's been going this first week.

I'm listening to the tones at least 4 hours each day, a couple of days I've managed to do 6h.

The electrical noises that were quite disturbing the first and second day started to fade away on the third day and since then I mostly got a bit of that during treatment sessions and for a while after, but the rest of the day they keep at a minimum, almost nothing at times. The volume of that noises is quite low anyways.

About the tinnitus tone: it has been practically silent all these days. I have to go to a quiet room AND plug my ears with fingers to listen for it, and usually I only find something when enough hours have been passed from last treatment. My other tinnitus tone is not as lowered as the first day but the volume is not increased overall, and the pitch for that tone has gone slightly higher.

Now, an interesting thing about adjusting frequencies. Last night the tinnitus tone suddenly came back. At first I worried that the treatment wasn't working anymore or that I was doing something wrong, but then I tried to match the frequency again and generate a new set of treatment tones.

All this week I was using the tones generated for the original 1650hz match, and my new match seems to be about 1770hz. I generated new treatment tones for that frequency, and after some minutes the tinnitus tone was quiet again. Now I've been doing my 4 hours with the new tones and the tinnitus for that frequency is silent again.

I remember reading @Steve messages saying that the trial involved matches with a 500hz interval. Based on the experience I'm having, I'd say that it may be too big of an interval, as 100hz up or down seem to make a difference from silent tinnitus tone to not silent anymore in my case.

I'll keep you informed when/if there's more changes.

 

[Frederick86]

Well, I think I got confused about the new matching, my tinnitus got worse after one session with that, and the frequency after all seems to continue being about 1650hz, so I returned to that frequency. I did two more days very well, tinnitus quite silent.

Today I woke up with louder tinnitus again, I've done 3 hours of treatment this morning and still doesn't improve as much as these days.

I think is possible that I've lost some of the effect due to using some crappy earphones last two days?

Anyone knows if it is normal to have some set backs during first weeks of treatment, till the results are "fixed"?

 

[Leah]

hi, I use the DIY tones at my office IN ADDITION to constant white noise. I find the combination makes the tinnitus very difficult to identify, and so I have almost become addicted to work, because I like being in the office with this kind of sound going on. on the weekend, i just have restful rain at night time, pink noise, and sometimes MP3 of pink noise on week end. So far I have noticed it is getting definitely better. I'm not sure what the improvement is due to: natural fading away from a bad noise 2 weeks ago? or is the NM encouraging it to subside? i don't know this in just basically one week into it -

Is there a link to this topic? Can I do this on my own? Thanks so much

 

[Marton]

I've been following the thread and just started to try ACR with the help of the page created by @generalfuzz, and it's working! (Congrats for your great work!) I have two tones that I want to reduce/eliminate, and I'm starting with the most annoying, a 1650hz frequency on the left ear (I think that is, as I achieve residual inhibition after a minute listening a tone generated at that value.)

Using a capture software, I recorded five minutes of the tones on a wav file to listen with the speaker of an ipod, and I let it on loop playing on background for four hours. After just a few minutes the tone wasn't there at all and it was replaced by a sea shell-like sound, and the other tinnitus sound I have was greatly reduced too (I think it could be a close enough frequency.)

So I wanted to say many thanks to @generalfuzz for setting up the page, but also have some questions for @Steve, as you have been on the real trial.

When I completed the four hours I had an electrical buzzing inside my head, around the centre, that has dissapeared after sleeping, and now I still have some electrical "sparkles" here and there, specially close to my other ear.

Those electrical noises are just a product of reorganizing neural activity and will dissapear, or is there a risk that a new path is created on the brain and they won't go after completing all the treatment? The 4 weeks of rest are for letting those noises go away? Did they told you something about this? Am I doing something wrong? Should I try 2 or 3 hours instead?

Also, after the first 12 weeks and resting 4 weeks, it's said that one must continue on regular intervals for another 22 weeks, do you know wich are those intervals?

Hi could you tell me what capture software did you use?
Thanks!

 

[Marton]

I know this has been asked before, but are you sure that I supposed to listen to this in both ears even though I only have tinnitus in my right? Is it not gonna "screw" up my good ear?

 

[stickywicket]

You're right myself, it's way faster. I don't know how I did that as I was actually using the device when I made them. I've attached the 2 tones at roughly the same speed as the device.

Steve

Hi there Steve, Should I use the faster version in Post # 12 or the slower version in Post # 17. And I think the youtuber version is the faster version found in Post # 12? Thank you so much for putting these files together.

 

[stickywicket]

If anyone on TT has benefited from this treatment protocol, could you please weigh in?

Yesterday, using Steve mp3 (the slower one from post #17), I listened for 6 hours. This made a significant difference in my T. I tried playing the same tone on a ipod/speaker at night last night, and woke up in the middle of the night to louder T.

Today I am using the generalfuzz web site. I'm not completely sure of the difference between the Steve original mp3 in post #17 and the general fuzz web site referenced in post #173. There does not seem to be much of a difference?

I have had my tone identified at 8KHz, both ears (right ear louder than left) by a very good audiologist, so my starting place is accurate.

I plan to use Soundflower and Quicktime on the Mac to capture the generalfuzz web sounds at 8KHz http://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ and try listening for 6 hours per day. I am listening at a low volume, mostly on iMac speakers and not headphones.

 

[Steve]

Hi @stickywicket Keep to the general fuzz app, this is about as close as you will get to the actual treatment as it has been based on a formula from analysing the treatment. My tones were a bit more approximate, in 100Hz intervals. I can send the audio files if they help.

And yes, the slower one is the same speed as the treatment. Also, as you have the same frequency in both ears playing on a speaker should be fine - although the treatment is always through earphones.

 

[Minnumi]

Hi,
I was just wondering, what if I have a very low tinnitus sound? Like around 570hz in one ear and maybe slightly higher in the other, but also experience a higher hissing sound in the backround of it all (around 4300 hz). Should I just concentrate on the most irritating sound? But what would be the right frequencies for low, 570 hz T? Could I get an audio of that?

Thank you, this thread has been very interesting.

 

[Steve]

@Minnumi The trial instructions were to match to the most irritating tone. It should work fine at your lower frequency, it may sound it but it's not actually that low - middle A (standard tuning) is 440Hz.

The app will let you play a sequence for it.

 

[Balthazar]

I also have a fairly low tone at 326 hz. I've just had a go with over ear headphones and haven't noticed any change. If anything it felt like it got worse, although this may be because the background sound was blocked out. I tried for about half an hour. Should I have tried for longer?

 

[stickywicket]

If anyone on TT has benefited from this treatment protocol, could you please weigh in?

Yesterday, using Steve mp3 (the slower one from post #17), I listened for 6 hours. This made a significant difference in my T. I tried playing the same tone on a ipod/speaker at night last night, and woke up in the middle of the night to louder T.

Today I am using the generalfuzz web site. I'm not completely sure of the difference between the Steve original mp3 in post #17 and the general fuzz web site referenced in post #173. There does not seem to be much of a difference?

I have had my tone identified at 8KHz, both ears (right ear louder than left) by a very good audiologist, so my starting place is accurate.

I plan to use Soundflower and Quicktime on the Mac to capture the generalfuzz web sounds at 8KHz http://generalfuzz.net/acrn/ and try listening for 6 hours per day. I am listening at a low volume, mostly on iMac speakers and not headphones.

Yesterday, I used the generalfuzz web site, and played the tones at my frequency for most of the daytime. In the evening my T was noticeably louder with a bit of a hum to it. I also tried it for a period of time at a higher volume with the same result. By evening, I was a little nervous about the higher T, so I took a Theanine, some Melatonin and a bit of Bourbon In the morning, my T was lower than it has been in a while. I have no idea why my T was significantly lower in the morning. I do find it interesting though that the tones are definitely a lever on T volume (just the wrong direction?). I'm going to go back and re-read the study before I proceed.

 

[Marton]

I'm struggling to get my tinnitus frequency exactly right, but can manage to get it approximately right..(I think the difference can be maximum about 10 hz, but each te feels a bit different..) Do you think the treatment could still work in this case or you need to get it exactly right?

 

[Steve]

I'm struggling to get my tinnitus frequency exactly right, but can manage to get it approximately right..(I think the difference can be maximum about 10 hz, but each te feels a bit different..) Do you think the treatment could still work in this case or you need to get it exactly right?

On the study they match it to a frequency within 500Hz steps so I guess a small difference doesn't matter an awful lot.

 

[Marton]

And what does that exactly mean? Thank you anyways

 

[Steve]

They match your T to within the nearest 500Hz, for example - 4500Hz, 5000Hz, 5500Hz etc. and then produce the sequence based on that number. Not sure why they don't match it more precisely, possibly to make the assessment simpler and quicker. So if you are struggling to match it within a smaller amount it shouldn't really matter when you make the tone sequence.

 

[Marton]

I see thanks! 500hz seems like a lot though...

 

[dboy]

Hi,

I am currently on the trial. I was initially on placebo, now getting treatment (although with less adjustments of the device than those who were initially on treatment, so less chance of it working!). I recorded the pattern of tones on my device and analysed them on Audacity. The peaks match very closely with those produced by the General Fuzz page for that frequency of tinnitus. Excellent work!

In order to improve the chances of people treating their tinnitus successfully with this DIY approach I think there is an enormous need for more helpful tools to help folks identify their frequency accurately. My tinnitus, like most folks' is I think more like narrow band noise than a single pure tone. It does not sound like the tones generated by frequency finders and I wonder whether it would be easier to identify tinnitus tones if an online frequency finder could generate narrow band noise instead of pure tones. Does any kind Santa Claus know of such a thing, or feel they could produce one?

Also, I find it easier to hone in on my frequency when visiting the trial than when trying to do it at home. I think the protocol they use seems to help. They present you with a series of tones and you say whether your tinnitus is higher or lower. You can close your eyes and just focus without having to interact with webpages, pressing buttons to start and stop tones, adjust sliders etc. Just a simple "higher", "lower", or "can't be sure - its around there". After identifying a range of likely frequencies they present you with a series of pairs of tones and you say which is closer to your tinnitus frequency. This seems to make it easier to gradually hone in on the frequency you need if (like me) you don't have a great ear for identifying frequency.

I think someone asked a bit back about how to capture audio. You can follow the procedure here then transfer to an MP3 player:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/3400328/how-record-windows-audio-on-your-pc-or-laptop/

Cheers!!!

 

[Erlend]

The angle of my head to the speakers make like 90% difference in whether I can hear a tone or not. Wtf

 

[Hopeful]

The angle of my head to the speakers make like 90% difference in whether I can hear a tone or not. Wtf

This is physics due to 3 factors. I suspect this phenomenon only exists for high frequencies.
1. The interference pattern for high frequency pure tones has very short distance between the minimum and maxiumum points. This means that if you move your head (side to side) you will notice pressure maximum, pressure minimum, pressure maximum,... at very high rate.
2. Your head shadows more in the high frequencies due to very short wavelength of the tones (angling your head changes shadow).
3. Directivity of your speakers increases with frequency. Probably not so relevant here.

 

[Erlend]

This is physics due to 3 factors. I suspect this phenomenon only exists for high frequencies.
1. The interference pattern for high frequency pure tones has very short distance between the minimum and maxiumum points. This means that if you move your head (side to side) you will notice pressure maximum, pressure minimum, pressure maximum,... at very high rate.
2. Your head shadows more in the high frequencies due to very short wavelength of the tones (angling your head changes shadow).
3. Directivity of your speakers increases with frequency. Probably not so relevant here.

I suspected something like this. When I listen to white noise and move my hand across between me and the speakers I can "here" the lack of sound. I guess the highest frequencees don't reach my ears as I move my hand across.

 

[James White]

that's the same phenomenon as bass sounds travel very far and in all directions, higher frequencies are more directional

 

[generalfuzz]

Glad to get some verification that the web-tool matches the output of the device.