Breakthrough tinnitus treatment comes to the Big Country

That slight ringing that is ever present in the background of your ear could be causing more stress than you realize. Dr. Anum Khan with the Holland Hearing Center said that those who experience severe tinnitus can face challenges beyond just the annoying ringing. She explained that the nerve in our brains that controls this distinct sound is directly connected to our fight or flight response, and the trauma that occurs to this nerve, often through exposure to severely loud noises, has allowed for the nerve to be more active than it is designed to be.

“Many people are able to tune it out. But for those patients who cannot tune it out, basically what has happened is they have strengthened that neural pathway and that response in the limbic system, where when they hear the tinnitus in their ears, they are associating the negative emotion towards it,” Khan explained.

To treat this, the experts at the Holland Hearing Center now have a new tool to treat tinnitus. It’s called Lenire, and it is designed to help normalize the nervous system’s response and suppress the ringing.

This procedure was recently approved for use in the United States by the FDA and uses a slight electric shock to help recalibrate the affected nerve. It works by placing earphones on your ears that are tuned to a noise custom-made for the specific user. While listening to the noise, patients will place a small electrode in their mouths that administers a shock to the tongue.

Though it may sound like a painful experience, Khan shared that the shocks are very mild and feel like a slight tingling sensation on your tongue. The Holland Hearing Center is already seeing patients using the new device.