A gadget switched off my tinnitus

FOR many years Peter Humphries mended leaks for the water board, powering through roads and pavements to fix burst pipes with a pneumatic drill.

Peter Humphries with the tinnitus device that has changed his life Peter Humphries with the tinnitus device that has changed his life

Peter, now 70, is convinced the loud noise gradually damaged his hearing.

Two decades ago he was diagnosed with partial deafness in one ear and tinnitus in the other, which causes a constant ringing or whistling sound.

Tinnitus (the word comes from the Latin for ringing) is a condition of the hearing pathways leading from the brain to the ears.

Sufferers often complain of ringing, whistling or buzzing noises although there’s no real external source of the sounds.

Peter, from Wargrave, Berkshire, says: “I had to dig out concrete and I’d be using a pneumatic drill for up to eight hours a day sometimes.

“We were never told to wear ear protectors and at the time I never gave it much thought. I did that type of work for about 16 years and just got used to the noise.

“It was only much later, when I reached my 50s, that I began having hearing problems and went to see a specialist. Fortunately it wasn’t bad enough to require a hearing aid but I was told nothing could be done.”

The father of six, married to Lesley, 62, found tinnitus difficult to tolerate.

He says: “It got worse over the years and it became hard to concentrate or sleep for more than two or three hours a night.

“I just had to try to live with it. My tinnitus was high pitched and continuous, like a whistling kettle.”

Then he heard about a new treatment at The Tinnitus Clinic in London which involves training the brain to stop the incessant noise caused by the condition.

A small matchbox-sized device attached to earphones sends sounds, closely matched to those caused by the tinnitus, to the auditory nerve cells in the brain.

It’s these cells which are misfiring to cause the rogue noise but over time it’s possible to stop this happening by using the new sounds to disrupt the process.

The device can be used less frequently as the tinnitus is “switched off” and eventually, should no longer be needed at all.

Known as Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation, the treatment isn’t suitable for everyone but was found to reduce tinnitus symptoms in three-quarters of patients in one trial.

Peter, the first UK patient to use the device in 2011, adds: “They did lots of tests to establish the type of sound I was hearing because of tinnitus and I began using the gadget for up to six hours a day. I began noticing a difference after about 10 days and it kept improving. The noise in my ears was getting lower.

“After about three months I found I rarely needed to use the gadget and for less time.

“I still get the ringing occasionally but for most of the time, somehow my brain has been taught to stop the tinnitus. It’s been fantastic.

“For the first time in years I am getting some peace and quiet and sleeping better.”

It became hard to concentrate or sleep for more than two or three hours a night

Peter Humphries

The £4,500 treatment is currently only available privately but another trial is under way and if the results are good it could eventually be available on the NHS.

An estimated 10 per cent of the UK population suffer from tinnitus which can lead to anxiety, sleep deprivation and depression.

Mark Williams, an audiologist at The Tinnitus Clinic, says: “Tinnitus is more to do with the brain than the ears so the current thinking is that it should be treated as a neurological condition.”

About 80 patients in the UK have been offered the treatment which was developed in Germany where 2,000 people have used it.

Mr Williams explains: “This treatment involves remodelling brain activity.

“We are targeting the hearing part of the brain where the sounds caused by tinnitus are coming from.

“We hope for some sort of improvement within eight weeks.

Some people using the device experience a complete resolution of symptoms so it is as close to a cure for tinnitus as there has been.

“Others get a significant reduction in symptoms.

“It is not necessary to use the treatment forever because we are able to change the way the brain affects hearing and lock this in.”

* For more about Acoustic CR Neuromodulation call 020 3326 1777 or visit www.thetinnitusclinic.co.uk