Dm. Baguley et al., A CONSIDERATION OF THE EFFECT OF EAR CANAL RESONANCE AND HEARING-LOSSUPON WHITE-NOISE GENERATORS FOR TINNITUS RETRAINING THERAPY, Journal of Laryngology and Otology, 111(9), 1997, pp. 810-813
Tinnitus retraining therapy has been heralded as a major advance in th
e alleviation of tinnitus perception. A cornerstone of this technique
is to use white noise produced by a white noise generator (WNG) over a
period of several months in order to assist the patient to habituate
to their tinnitus. There are three factors which influence the frequen
cy spectrum of the perceived noise such that the perception of white n
oise from a WNG is unlikely. These factors are the actual spectrum of
the emitted noise, the ear canal resonance of the patient and the hear
ing sensitivity of the patient. Advocates of tinnitus retraining thera
py state that white noise is the optimal stimulation to assist habitua
tion of tinnitus. This paper demonstrates that this optimal situation
is unlikely to be achieved and that this may account for the long peri
ods needed for patients to achieve benefit from the technique. The dev
elopment of devices that allow for the above factors to be countered i
s suggested.