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Medicine Science

Electric Shocks To the Tongue Can Quiet Chronic Ringing Ears 75

Posted by BeauHD from the shock-therapy dept.
Scientists have shown shocking the tongue -- combined with a carefully designed sound program -- can reduce symptoms of tinnitus, not just while patients are being treated, but up to 1 year later. Science Magazine reports: In the team's experiment, 326 people with tinnitus sat for up to 1 hour at a time with a small plastic paddle on their tongue. Tiny electrodes in the paddle delivered an electrical current designed to broadly excite the brain, getting activity going through a number of interconnected regions. The electrical stimulation feels a little like pop rocks candy fizzing in your mouth, [says Hubert Lim, a biomedical engineer at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities]. Subjects also wore headphones that delivered a more targeted hit to the brain's auditory system. Each person heard a rapidly changing series of pure tones at different frequencies, against a background noise that sounds "kind of like electronic music," Lim says. The goal of the two together was to distract the brain by heightening its sensitivity, forcing it to suppress the activity that causes tinnitus. "The brain can only pay attention to so many things," Lim says.

Over the 12 weeks of treatment, the patients' tinnitus symptoms improved dramatically. More than 80% of those who complied with the prescribed regimen saw an improvement. And they saw an average drop of about 14 points on a tinnitus severity score of one to 100, the researchers report today in Science Translational Medicine. When the team followed up after 12 months, 80% of the participants still had lower tinnitus scores, with average drops of 12.7 and 14.5 points.
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Electric Shocks To the Tongue Can Quiet Chronic Ringing Ears More

Electric Shocks To the Tongue Can Quiet Chronic Ringing Ears

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  • Woot! (Score:4, Funny)

    by msauve ( 701917 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @08:29PM (#60583512)
    I have some 9V batteries I have to test.

  • "I haven't tested it yet, but it should be perfectly safe.
    Just a bit of harmless brain alteration, that's all."
                                                Wallace - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

    I wonder how much experimentation went into finding the right patterns.

    • Tinnitus is often a Revealing symptom of a disease. It would be more valuable to find the underlying cause of the tinnitus, rather than fixing the alerting symptom.

      • Re:Fix tinnitus? (Score:5, Informative)

        by cusco ( 717999 ) <brian@bixby.gmail@com> on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @10:15PM (#60583722)

        More often than not it's caused by loss of the ability to hear certain tones, generally because the hair cells in the inner ear which should detect them have died or been injured in some way. The brain still expects to hear those tones, and because they're missing it manufactures them.

        I was 22 when I first realized that I had been living with tinnitus my entire life. I read an article in the newspaper about it and was shocked. I thought that everyone's ears rang all the time.

        • I don't know about that. I'm 50 years old and my hearing is very good.. I can hear pin drops and higher than normal frequencies. i.e. mosquito tone i can hear very well still. Only thing i've ever had wrong with my ears was as a child, i had to have a tube put in my ear because of infections all the time but i'm way past that. Sitting here typing all this, my tinnitus is going full strength and very loud. i hate it..

          • When I get pure tone tinnitus I try to imagine the exact tone (at a very quiet moment, like in bed) and mentally 'push back' until it weakens or disappears for a few secs. It takes repeated attempts until it's completely and permanently gone. Caveat: sometimes you need to push back with an imagined tone that is one or two octaves higher that the tinnitus frequency you think you hear. It may sound wishy-washy but it works for me. Try it, you have nothing to lose.

            Works for noise too, but not as good as it is

          • I'm 52 and like you my hearing is really good, except for the damn ringing all the time. Most of the time I don't notice it until something reminds me (like this article). I assume it's caused from my teen years at rock concerts and then later in the Marine Corps working next to active jet aircraft on the flight line and aboard aircraft carriers. No matter how much hearing protection you wear a burning and turning A6E is still loud as hell. Not to mention the F14s kicking on their after-burners just before
            • i've always heard that loud sounds were precursors to tinnitus, but i've never been around loud sounds. I think it's more or less something to do with the physiology of our skulls because not all skulls are the same. Probably a mixture of a lot of different things. I once sat in an isolation chamber and I couldn't last 5 min in it.. way too loud.

        • I'm in my late 20s and my wife is in her early 30s, both of us work in noisy environments and despite precautions we both have tinnitus from hearing damage. She especially was deaf until an operation and now warns people that being deaf does not protect you from tinnitus. Fucking horrible condition, I can barely sleep at night without a noise maker running to drown out that constant whine.

    • I wonder how much experimentation went into finding the right patterns.

      I wonder who even thought to try that. Maybe it was just random luck that a person who got an electric shock to their tongue happened to have tinnitus, and discovered afterward that their symptoms went away.

      Or maybe some doctors got drunk and thought it would be a hilarious prank to play, only to discover that the treatment actually cured their patients.

      Or maybe it was just a desperate last attempt after all rational treatments failed. "What the hell, it's not like sending an electric shock through you

    • My brother used to have this form of pain relief for me. If I had a sore foot he would stand on my other foot so that I screamed in pain, then claim he had solved my initial problem due to it being inconsequential by comparison.

  • great news (Score:3)

    by Anonymouse Cowtard ( 6211666 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @08:44PM (#60583540) Homepage
    Punk's not dead

  • Ringing in the Ears (Score:5, Funny)

    by wooferhound ( 546132 ) <tim@woo f e r h o u n d.com> on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @08:45PM (#60583544) Homepage
    I called the Tinnitus Hotline and it just kept Ringing . . .

  • Access to trial procedure? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Robert Castles ( 4744535 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @08:54PM (#60583578)
    How might one go about participating in this type of trial early? Like 'now-ish' Think a good ENT would research this and be willing to try it out?

    • Seriously. Sign me up.
      My ears have rung as long as I can remember, even when I was a little kid.
      Too many bad ear infections and I have a 3K tone in both ears for the last 40+ years.

      • I am with you. the sound of my tinnitus is like in video games where someone throws a flashbang or something and that sound after it in the game. mine is more of a mixture of two different frequencies. i had bad ear infections as a kid and had a tube put in my ear at one point. i'm 50 years old and i've always had this problem, but my hearing is very good otherwise. I can hear faint noises and I can hear that dreaded mosquito tone. I have speakers on my stereo that can go up to 50khz and i've tested my
        • That's a PERFECT description of my noise too! " the sound of my tinnitus is like in video games where someone throws a flashbang or something and that sound after it in the game". Ironically I can hear those high pitched noises too that others can't. I had my hearing checked about 10 years ago and passed with flying colors. However, being in the quiet room nearly drove me mad. The tone in my ears got extremely loud in there. I nearly had to leave from feeling almost claustrophobic from it.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by piojo ( 995934 )

      Read the paper, then read about DIY TDCS or TENS as background for the electronics. Contact the researchers for more details, like a recording of the sounds, if they are willing to share. If the current is pulsing/modulating or switching between regions, you may need help building it. There are message boards where you can post questions about electrical engineering.

      But I doubt an ENT would be willing to give an experimental treatment requiring equipment that doesn't exist as a certified medical device. Thi

      • Yeah. I doubt this is going to be offered anywhere near me in the immediate future, so I'm gonna lick that 9v battery and listen to "Fear Inoculum" on nice headphones some more. Who knows.

      • I'm hoping the Arduino community gets ahold of it and creates some prior art before the patents start getting filed.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skids ( 119237 )

        If you DIY things like this be careful... and take notes so if you end up being picked up by police while walking naked in an ice storm, the doctors will have something to go on.

        For example with trans-cranial stimulation the polarity seems to matter... you wouldn't intuitively think it should, but...

  • Someone lost an opportunity for a tongue-in-cheek headline.

  • I can relate (Score:4, Interesting)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @09:17PM (#60583626)

    Well, I will hold out some hope on this discovery. I developed tinnitus four years ago. It is a constant, soft, 13KHz tone in both ears that never stops. What makes it worse is that I have an overly-acute perception of my senses and a somewhat obsessive personality.

    Have no idea why it developed. I have always been careful to protect my hearing- I have always worn protection when around loud or constant noise, never listen to loud music, etc. Thankfully, it hasn't gotten worse, and most of the time I can tune it out. I keep "white noise" going in most rooms which helps mask it. Might be genetic- my Mom has it, also.

    I feel very bad for those who have much worse tinnitus than I, especially since there really has been no effective treatment.

    • Re:I can relate (Score:4, Interesting)

      by complete loony ( 663508 ) <Jeremy.Lakeman@nOSpaM.gmail.com> on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @10:05PM (#60583696)

      It sounds like this procedure doesn't make tinnitus go away, but may accelerate your ability to ignore it.

      I've had tinnitus for decades. Usually I'm completely unaware of it. Like breathing or other bodily functions, I can focus on it and hear it. But even when it is noticeable in a quiet room, it's no longer annoying.

      • >"It sounds like this procedure doesn't make tinnitus go away, but may accelerate your ability to ignore it. "

        That is probably the case. But, either way, as long as the result is a better quality of life, it seems promising.

        • Indeed. I can cure my hiccups by holding my breath and sipping water while pressing a finger against (not in) each ear. Someone told me once that what I was doing was just psychology (as opposed, I guess, to physiology). My response: "And your point?"

      • It sounds like this procedure doesn't make tinnitus go away, but may accelerate your ability to ignore it.

        I'm not sure that it makes much sense to distinguish between "ignoring" or "go away" when we're talking about a phantom neural signal.

        • I know it's always there. Sometimes I don't notice it, as if it isn't there. Sometimes I do notice it, but it doesn't bother me.

          But it would sometimes make it difficult to sleep, giving me a headache. That doesn't happen anymore.

      • In fact "making peace" with your tinnitus and doing your best to ignore it is one of the few existing therapies. Fixating on the sound can strengthen it.

        I have a high pitch whine all the time despite limited exposure to loud noise. My ears are just really sensitive. Ok, now I'm fixating on the sound... time to go back to ignoring it.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • There is a cure I have heard of which is interesting and should be worth investigation. You play back music with the tone that you hear strongly amplified and your brain's internal EQ will adjust over time. I have heard of it and cannot endorse it, however I did get a request to develop some software a long time back to adapt that cure I did not take the job.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GS1 ( 5266363 )

      Well, I will hold out some hope on this discovery. I developed tinnitus four years ago. It is a constant, soft, 13KHz tone in both ears that never stops. What makes it worse is that I have an overly-acute perception of my senses and a somewhat obsessive personality.

      Have no idea why it developed. I have always been careful to protect my hearing- I have always worn protection when around loud or constant noise, never listen to loud music, etc. Thankfully, it hasn't gotten worse, and most of the time I can tune it out. I keep "white noise" going in most rooms which helps mask it. Might be genetic- my Mom has it, also.

      I feel very bad for those who have much worse tinnitus than I, especially since there really has been no effective treatment.

      Very interesting.

      Having had intermittent mild tinnitus myself for as long as I can remember I have just generated this 13kHz tone you mentioned. It turns out mine is almost exactly at the same frequency.

      Does anyone know of frequency distributions for tinnitus in the population ?

      • >"Having had intermittent mild tinnitus myself for as long as I can remember I have just generated this 13kHz tone you mentioned. It turns out mine is almost exactly at the same frequency. Does anyone know of frequency distributions for tinnitus in the population ?"

        It doesn't seem to be as consistent as one might think:

        https://www.audionotch.com/blo... [audionotch.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Reziac ( 43301 ) *

      I get it when my thyroid levels drop. High-pitched and can be loud enough to be both deafening and painful.

      Get thyroid checked. Seriously.

  • Given the track record of scientists lately I'll pass. I learned to live with tinnitus early out of necessity. As long as I have a fan blowing it isn't even a little bothersome. Scientists, on the other hand...

  • This builds on work by Dr. Emilio Lizardo (Score:3)

    by iikkakeranen ( 6279982 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @09:25PM (#60583642)

    He was conducting these experiments - with very interesting results - all the way back in 1984.

  • Yeah, you could probably make me forget even the worst medical issues if you put the paddle for an hour on my $&!%#s . . .
  • Strong enough electric shocks to the tongue will quiet *any* noises you hear.
  • I hate my tinnitus. Sometimes it's louder than usual. This seems like a really weird treatment but i'd be willing to try anything to quell this. I've had a lot of relationships that can't stand me having the TV on while I sleep. Without some kind of sound going on, i cant sleep. I wish it would stop.

    • Try a fan? My wife likes the airflow and it helps my tinnitus, so it works for both of us.

      • White noise only seems to make mine worse. i have to have variable sounds like talking. I watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 every night when i go to bed and i'm fine.

  • Hey, babe, I got the cure for your tinnitis right here.

    I just have to put something shocking in your mouth and leave it there for an hour. And you have to wear headphones playing drone-y noises.

    Trust me. A biomedical engineer wrote about it in a medical journal.

  • You don't say.

    Problem is: It alters *everything*. Not just the neurons that send a ringing signal all the time.

  • The control group was treated with Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music

  • But to those that suffer from constant tinnitus, I can tell you if it does indeed work, it would be received like a gift from heaven. A lot of people who don't have it find it hard to believe just how awful it is to live with, and yeah I know there are way worse problems to have, but just imagine the constant distraction of a mosquito buzzing loud as hell in both your ears for every moment of your life.

    • A lot of people who don't have it find it hard to believe just how awful it is to live with, and yeah I know there are way worse problems to have, but just imagine the constant distraction of a mosquito buzzing loud as hell in both your ears for every moment of your life.

      People have committed suicide because of tinnitus. It is no joke.

  • Hey if they use Scientology procedure R2-45 on use tinnitus suffers that will cure it also. :rolleyes:

  • Train the brain to ignore or overcome some interference.

    I have terrible tinnitus, the result of hundreds of concerts, being in bands for about a decade, and no ear protection (thanks mom...). It never goes away and it spikes sometimes.

    I went to the ear Dr. and passed the standard test, but my wife will say I'm deaf (I agree on some level, my hearing is weak in the human voice range).

    I've read the article, I'm wondering if a TENS unit (electrical muscle stimulator, probably close to what they are using) wi

  • I got tinnitus many years ago and thought it might have come from a medication I took back then. But I also remembered that at that same time I'd frequently lie on the couch we had in such a way that it sharply kinked my neck so I could watch TV. Being painless, I would do it for hours.

    At some point later, I put myself in that same position once and the tinnitus actually went away, until I sat up. That couch is gone, but I notice that if I massage my neck very hard in certain spots, for minutes, my t
  • He has had a problem with it for a while

  • When you have a chronic condition, the chance for any kind of improvement is simply too attractive to pass up, which is why there is a huge industry targeting tinnitus sufferers promising relief, or cures, for the condition. It's always bullshit, but, desperate people will try nearly anything for relief, and even here the placebo effect comes into play, so a few people do get relief. Adding to problem: many with tinnitus end up with other health issues as a result of the constant noise. Insomnia and chron

  • but now my tongue is ringing.

  • Hi, this is a little misleading, the idea of tongue stimulation for tinnitus has been around for a while. There's an Irish company that actually has a commercially available device: https://www.lenire.com/ [lenire.com] I think this is the same principle, stimulation of the trigeminal nerve ?

  • I've had it since I was a kid. Continues to get worse as I get older.

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