Personal experience with tinnitus retraining therapy

European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Volume 267, Number 1 / January, 2010
Egisto Molini1, Mario Faralli1 , Claudio Calenti1, Giampietro Ricci1, Fabrizio Longari1 and Antonio Frenguelli1  (1) Otolaryngology and Cervicofacial Surgery Clinic, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy 

Abstract We present the results of tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) in a group of patients suffering from tinnitus and/or hyperacusia. Based on the scores from a specific questionnaire and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), the patients were classified into five categories and began therapy according to Jastreboff’s criteria. Depending on the individual case, therapy envisaged counselling sessions, ambient sound enrichment, sound generators and hearing aids. At the end of the 18-month period, therapeutic success was observed in 79% of the patients. The initial numerical values of the scale of the symptoms and the THI seem predictive of treatment outcome. The use of instruments (sound generators) increases the success rate, but the study also demonstrates the effectiveness of counselling and ambient sound enrichment. Failures mainly involved patients with hypacusia who refused to wear hearing aids, as this influenced the effectiveness of ambient sound enrichment and counselling. Paralleling the data in the literature, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of TRT, which cannot be attributed to a placebo effect given the extended duration of treatment.