Future Treatments for Us?

[Asian]

Hello Dr Nagler,

I was just reading some old conversations about Autifony treatment and learned that it may have a good potential in treating T. But it is specifically targeted for people with noise induced T. I was wondering that if at all tinnitus has a common mechanism(whatever it is) regardless of its cause then shouldn't treatments like Autifony or VNS work on everybody atleast to some extent? They say tinnitus might be originating somewhere in the brain or auditory pathways then I guess the drug should work on everybody as they are specifically targeting those areas and the cause shouldn't matter that much right ?

My heart sank when I am realising that most of the treatments they are working are being targeted for noise induced T. What about concussion induced or whiplash induced tinnitus ? Do we have a hope at all even if it is still 10 years away? I know my T might subside or I may habituate to the point I may not worry about the treatments so much. But keeping some hope keeps us going regardless of how bad it may get.

 

[Dr. Nagler]

Hi @Asian -

Here is how I have come to look at the problem:

I know that there is a lot of ongoing research towards better understanding the underlying mechanism(s) for tinnitus with an eye towards development of a cure (or cures). Early on - it's been twenty years for me now - I used to follow the research very closely. Then I realized that regardless of whether or not I follow the research, when something really important breaks, I'm going to find out about it rather quickly ... because it will be on the front page of every newspaper and all over the Internet. So, since my keeping up with that sort of thing accomplishes nothing, I choose not to do it.

Is there hope for a cure? Yes.

But I personally think it's best for tinnitus sufferers to work on the assumption that there will be no cure and instead focus on the facilitation of habituation. Then, if or when a cure ever does become a reality, it will be a most welcome bonus rather than something you constantly wonder about and worry about.

Dr. Stephen Nagler