Constantly Changing Tinnitus

[Cassidy]

Hi Dr. Nagler,

From your experience with T-patients, how common is constantly changing tinnitus in terms of ear affected and/or actual underlying sound (tonal to hiss to buzz etc... or perhaps more subtle changes)? Do you think this is something normal that again even non-T people experience if they were to focus on their internal noises over a longer period of time? Is TRT effective for such changing tinnitus?

Many thanks & Best Regards,

Cass

 

[Dr. Nagler]

From your experience with T-patients, how common is constantly changing tinnitus in terms of ear affected and/or actual underlying sound (tonal to hiss to buzz etc... or perhaps more subtle changes)? Do you think this is something normal that again even non-T people experience if they were to focus on their internal noises over a longer period of time? Is TRT effective for such changing tinnitus?

Hi Cass -

Approximately 50% of tinnitus sufferers describe more than one tinnitus sound. Approximately 25% of tinnitus sufferers describe their tinnitus as constant; 75% describe it as fluctuating. Approximately 45% of tinnitus sufferers describe their tinnitus as moderately or markedly fluctuating. (These figures all come from the Oregon Tinnitus Data Archive; my experience with my own tinnitus patients pretty much matches these figures.)

Regarding TRT, it is equally effective for fluctuating tinnitus as it is for constant tinnitus. The reason is that TRT addresses one's reaction to tinnitus rather than addressing the tinnitus sound (or sounds) itself.

Dr. Stephen Nagler