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Sound Therapy: A Tinnitus Treatment that Works!

Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) occurs when neurons fire from internal stimuli rather than external stimuli (sounds). There are many causes of this mis-firing, including many chemicals we eat and drink. Tinnitus can be treated by removing any triggers and providing the right sensory inputs on a daily basis, which is exactly what Sound Therapy achieves.

Constant, severe tinnitus is one of the most psychologically stressful conditions a person can suffer from. But there is hope - research has shown that Sound Therapy helps 80 - 90% of tinnitus sufferers, with relief being experienced anywhere from a few days of listening to several months.

"As an audiologist, Sound Therapy has been the missing link to assist my patients."

Donna Segal
Doctor of Audiology
Indianapolis, Indiana USA

What exactly is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is the condition where a phantom noise is heard inside the head. It can be loud or soft, intermittent or permanent. The sound can be anything from ringing to buzzing, hissing, rustling, clanging or roaring.

Tinnitus, which affects 1 in 5 Australians, is an annoying and potentially devastating condition for which there is currently no medical treatment, though effective alternative treatments exist.

The effect of tinnitus on a person's life may include:

• stress and anxiety
• insomnia
• reluctance to go into noisy environments
• social isolation
• depression
• and in severe cases even suicide.

Listen to "Triumph over Tinnitus" author Rafaele Joudry being interviewed about tinnitus on Radio 2GB

What causes Tinnitus?

Tinnitus may being at any point along the auditory system. Some of the specific injuries or malfunctions commonly associated with tinnitus include:

• Damage to the cilia (hair-like sensory cells which receive sound in the inner ear) - if they are bent over and touching each other they produce a short circuit, causing the phantom noise
• Congestion or imbalance of fluid in the inner ear chambers - any condition which disturbs the fluid pressure in the inner ear chamber may produce head noise. This may be due to infection, allergy, or circulatory disturbances which produce changes not only in the fluid but also in the encasing membranes of the inner ear.
• Hyperactive brain cells - neurons in the auditory processing parts of the brain firing when they shouldn't be

Tinnitus can also be caused by an acoustic neuroma (a tumour on the auditory nerve). Your doctor may recommend that you have an MRI to rule this out.

Specific factors which can cause tinnitus to develop include:

• exposure to excessively loud of prolonged noice (e.g. a loud concert, shooting firearms, working with noisy machinery, etc)
• accidents causing injury to the ear or head
• an illness (such as ear infections)
• environmental toxins, including caffeine, alcohol, and certain prescription drugs
• misalignment of the jaw
• stress…

When there is an injury or disturbance to any part of the auditory system, this may result in the re-mapping of parts of the brain responsible for hearing. The good news is that since the brain is constantly changing in response to stimulus, the right sort of stimulation can correct this auditory mapping and increase our chances of restoring normal auditory functioning. Sound Therapy provides that therapeutic stimulation.

Unless you have a condition that can be helped by syringing the ear or surgery, your doctor may tell you that there is no way to cure or relieve your tinnitus. If so, please tell your doctor about Sound Therapy!

Sound Therapy: a natural Tinnitus treatment

Sound Therapy is a therapeutic self-help listening program based on the work of ear specialist Dr Alfred Tomatis, which uses specially recorded classical music to stimulate the brain and rehabilitate the ear. The listening program can be done at home or work using a portable CD player (discman) and headphones, and doesn't take any time out of your day.

Sound Therapy has proven to be an effective tinnitus treatment since it addresses the root physical problems with the ear and brain most commonly found with tinnitus.

Sound Therapy has worked for people in their teens through to those in their 80s, for people who have had tinnitus for over 30 years and for those who have just the beginnings of intermittant tinnitus.

The length of time it takes to achieve results varies from 24 hours to 14 months. Typically, more severe cases take longer, so it is advisable to persist with daily Sound Therapy for at least 6 months.

For tinnitus, the best Sound Therapy program to start with is the Basic Music Kit. You can purchase the kit alone, or purchase it as a bundle with a CD player, headphones and other options to receive a free copy of Triumph Over Tinnitus.

Reversing cilia damage

In the Sound Therapy listening program, the low frequency sounds are progressively removed from the music, and the high frequency sounds are augmented.

Sound Therapy activates the middle ear muscles, restoring their tone and resilience. Gentle high frequencies then more readily reach the inner ear, where they give gentle stimulation to the cilia, restoring them to their upright position.

Once the ear opens to high frequency sounds, the sensory cells in the inner ear can be stimulated and restored to their upright, receptive position.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy rehabilitates the ear.

Correcting a fluid imbalance in the inner ear

The ear's ability to adjust and balance the fluid pressure in the inner chambers is impeded if the stapedius muscle, a tiny muscle in the middle ear, is not fully functional.

The "Electronic Ear" used in the recording of Sound Therapy challenges the ear with constantly alternating sounds of high and low tone. These alternating frequencies exercise the middle ear muscles, improving their tone and responsiveness.

Learn more about how Sound Therapy rehabilitates the ear.

Hyperactive brain cells

Eric Jordan, Chief Audiometrician in the Audiology Department at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, England, conducted double blind tests with Sound Therapy over a two year period. He attributes a high degree of success with tinnitus patients to Sound Therapy calming hyperactive brain cells.

Jordan writes, "what happens with Sound Therapy and tinnitus as far as I can surmise, is that it re-vitalises the brain cells which have been the cause of brain cell hyperactivity. Such hyperactivity is caused by stress, anxiety and depression. Sound Therapy has succeeded where Tinnitus Maskers have failed because it has a soothing effect on the body as a whole, calms the mind and revitalizes the rundown brain cells."

Learn more about how Sound Therapy stimulates the brain.

Listener's Success Stories

Sound Therapy on ABC's Second Opinion - Eric Mutton's story

ABC's Second Opinion program followed Eric Mutton's progress as he tried Sound Therapy for his tinnitus. Eric rejoices, "At 6 months I’ve been using these tapes for a long time now and the tinnitus has gone! It works!"

Paul Bazelmans' story

Paul was interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in an article called "The sound of therapy".

He suffered from tinnitus for 15 years. He reported that since using Sound Therapy his tinnitus "has definitely improved enormously".

Paul is also one of the people interviewed on "Sound Therapy: an introduction":

More success stories

It's been 3 months since I have started using Sound Therapy and I have seen improvement. Before I wasn't even able to have a good night sleep due to the sound of my tinnitus which was loud but since I started Sound Therapy my tinnitus has gotten so low that I really have to be in a extremely silent room or concentrate on my tinnitus to hear it and I am able to sleep better and I have even better concentration when studying.

David Dolhomut
Montreal, Canada
17 January 2010

As a Doctor of Audiology for 24 years, I understand the profound benefit of Sound Therapy. I am blessed to have come upon Patricia and Rafaele Joudry's mission through Sound Therapy. I have been using Sound Therapy for many years since I first became aware of their therapeutic treatment system.

Personally, I have experienced phenomenal mind, body and spiritual benefits from Sound Therapy. This ranges from alleviation of tinnitus in my left ear, fatigue, sinus and ear fullness, to concentration, improved sleep, reduction in severity of menopausal night sweats, TMJ and jaw stiffness, headache and neck tension and back pain.

I recommend and use Sound Therapy with my patients in my private practice.

Donna Segal, AuD, CCC-A
Indianapolis, USA
From the foreward to the 12th edition of Sound Therapy: Music to Recharge Your Brain
November 2009

In one weeks time my tinnitus has disappeared. It is miraculous, it's big, it's something to celebrate today, tomorrow and forever, if God wants.

Last night, after weeks, in the bed I realized that the tremendous ringing in my right ear had disappeared.

I'm still listening to cassettes, my three hours minimum. I want this healing is lasting, and saying you will go another day with peace of mind. The principal and important is this: part of my healing, my health and the indescribable joy I feel at the moment. Thanks God, thanks to life … and of course sound therapy.

-- Three months later: --

It's been several months without any big, deafening sound or that which affects my wellbeing. Without any doubt, with the Sound Therapy cassettes, I could end this time of loud noise. There was no doctor that could give me a solution. Without any hope I gave in and used the cassettes. Why didn't I do that before!!!! In a week, the trumpets of Jerico disappeared, the national orchestra of Brandemburg disappeared. Can you imagine living with such a noise in your head? Thanks to God... I live without noise in my head.

David Cri
Spain
7 July 2009 & 4 October 2009

10 weeks and 300 [hours], my sleeping has improved a lot, my right tinnitus is getting softer and hardly noticeable, the left one was always a pain in the neck but it is less stressful now. I feel good.

H. F.
Denmark, Western Australia
31 July 2008

I started playing the electronic organ at the age of 8 and always practised with it turned right up loud, despite repeated protests from my mother that I would damage my hearing. When I wasn't playing the organ I was listening to loud rock music on my walkman or cassette player in my room. As a result, I developed tinnitus by the time I was 14 years old.

I stumbled across Sound Therapy when I was 26 when I found the book Sound Therapy: Music to Recharge Your Brain in a bookstore. Despite the instructions recommending listening for 3 hours a day, I started listening to Sound Therapy for a good 10 hours a day. Bad move! While my sleeping and hearing improved substantially, my tinnitus started getting worse, and it became very distracting. It drove me insane! I persevered with listening to Sound Therapy, though I cut back the number of hours per day to 3, and my tinnitus finally started improving - it stopped being so much of a distraction, and one day a few months later, about 6 months after starting Sound Therapy, I suddenly realised that there was no noise anymore! After 12 years of constant noise in my left ear, my tinnitus was completely cured!

See Simone's full story.

Simone Carot Collins
Perth, Western Australia
February 2008

Using Sound Therapy has brought me remarkable peace - of ears and mind!

After extensive damage due to a long career performing in a loud rock band, I thought I would never hear 'silence' again. My tinnitus used to sound like a whining kettle going off inside my head which made me always tense and uncomfortable.

With regular use of Sound Therapy I no longer notice any annoying whistle. If I am exposed to a new loud sound (for example loud music in a club without ear plugs) I might hear that 'kettle' again the next morning, but a few days relaxing with Sound Therapy morning and night takes care of it. My favorite place to use it is in bed as I am reading a book - it's very soothing. Sound Therapy is easy and convenient and it works.

Fiona Horne
Lead singer "Def FX"
Los Angeles, USA

I have experienced a reduction of the level of tinnitus in the right ear and a different perception of the way I have experienced tinnitus in the left ear so some dynamic must be shifting! I have been listening now for 370 hours.

Tony Richards

I suffered from Tinnitus for several years until it reached the stage where it was difficult to go to sleep. I consulted a doctor who advised that there was nothing that could be done to cure the problem.

My wife then bought me a set of four of your Sound Therapy tapes. After several months the annoyance had abated considerably and for years now I haven't the slightest sign of it returning.

Nevell Phelps
Moree, NSW, Australia

It was pure accident that I heard Patricia Joudry being interviewed on radio. The word tinnitus caught my attention, and I began the Sound Therapy.

My tinnitus, which my doctor said was incurable, was cured after several weeks of 3 hours a day listening. I had tinnitus for two years - and it was SHEER HEAVEN when it stopped - not to have incessant ringing in my ears. It also gives me a sense of well being. I am lending the book to my doctor!

Gertrude Rempel Brown
Vancouver, Canada

In the early part of 1989, I began to suffer from Tinnitus and only by mid 1989 had received medical advice that nothing could be done about it. I read the Sound Therapy book from cover to cover at least four times, and each time put it down - convinced that it was just too good to be true.

I mentioned it to a member of our local library, who told me that her daughter was using the tapes and "wished that she had started 2 years earlier." So I decided to try them, without any great hopes or expectations.

I had been listening for approximately 100 hours when I suddenly became aware that the Tinnitus whistle had stopped - I wasn't sure WHEN it stopped - but it had. Since then I have periodically been aware of the whistle but by relaxing my head muscles for about 2 minutes - it disappears.

About the same time I noticed distinct improvement in hearing to my left ear - there had been noticeable loss in that ear for about 3 years.

I do not know what response others will get from the tapes. I can only say that I have been VERY, VERY satisfied.

Flick Evans
Somers, Victoria, Australia

It's a wonder! Your sound therapy has helped really.

One morning, it was the 22nd of August, I suddenly noticed that the noises on the left ear had gone. I switched on the television to look if the speakers words are more clearly, and they were. I couldn't believe and knocked on wooden things - Germans do that to make sure that a situation will stay long. I didn't tell Jurgen but the whole day I put the buttons in and off the ears to make sure there are still no noises.

Up to this day I have no noises in the left ear and can hear very well the whole day. At first (my doctor) wasn't very interested. The audiogram tells him the truth. My left ear is as good as it has been before all the trouble began. He has never had a patient whose ears had become better again, when they had been as bad as mine.

Annaliese Palsans
Ahrensburg, Germany

About four years ago I started getting ringing in the left ear, followed by light-headedness and dizziness. Sometimes I couldn't stand without falling. This I was getting about once a month, then twice a month, soon twice a week and not long later three or four times a day. My doctor told me I had Meniere's Syndrome, which is a problem of the inner ear past the stirrup. There wasn't much that could be done; I would just have to put up with it. Being my age was 53, I knew I would be quite some time putting up with this problem.

Then I heard about Sound Therapy. I bought the Sony Walkman and tapes. Now, four months later, I have no light-headedness and dizziness, and the ringing in my left ear has gone. The hearing in my left ear has also improved. I can't express how much Sound Therapy has done for me. I am never dragged out and tired any more. I can stay up very late at night and still get up rested early in the morning. Also, I don't get uptight and stressed about the little setbacks of the day, but can just relax and take them in my stride. I even find it easier to talk to people - am not so shy! It's like a new life.

Darrell Johnson
Saskatchewan, Canada

About eight years ago, I read an article in a Women's magazine about the damaging effects of loud noise on our hearing. Sound Therapy was mentioned.

Since I was suffering of frequent ringing in my ears, was very sensitive to noise, with frequent headaches etc, I rang the phone number given on the article.

I read the book in one sitting. I was so impressed, that immediately after reading it, I purchased the tapes. I have said many times since, that the few hundred dollars I spent buying the tapes was the best investment I ever made for my health. From the very first moment I started listening , I knew they were going to do me good.

I couldn't get enough. I listened for 6 hours straight. That same night I slept with my headphones on. I was amazed and very pleased.

A few months later, the ringing in my ears, my regular dizzy spells, and my headaches, were largely gone. I felt so energized that I went from needing 8-9 hours sleep a night, to only 7. Many times since, I have woken up feeling fully rested after only 5 or 6 hours of sleep.

Sound Therapy has certainly made a great difference to the enjoyment of my life. My ears and I are very grateful.

Julia Angel Gulenc
Moorabin, Victoria, Australia

Things to avoid: Chemicals which may cause / exacerbate tinnitus

Ototoxins are chemicals that can damage the auditory nerve and cilia. Once they have been inhaled, ingested, or absorped through the skin, they enter the bloodstream, where they can be circulated to the ear and cause damage which leads to ringing in the ears, mild hearing loss, or even profound deafness.

Some of the otoxic foods, drinks and medications we consume that can trigger or exacerbate tinnitus include:

• Aspartame: found in many "low/no sugar" foods and drinks, including diet coke, NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful and Equal-Measure. Aspartame is an excitatory neurotransmitter, which means it increases electrical activity in the brain. The last thing you want if tinnitus is due to hyperactive brain cells is to stimulate them even further! For more information see the Aspartame Toxicity Info Center
• Caffeine: coffee, tea, cola drinks, chocolate (see Tinnitus could be cured by cutting back on coffee, researchers say)
• Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG): a common additive to make food tastier, especially in chinese food. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter of the hair cell. Like with Aspartame, the last thing you want to consume is something that will lead to more neural activity!

Medications

Over 260 drugs report Tinnitus as a side effect. A comprehensive listing of harmful medications, including chemotherapy agents, is available at Ototoxic Medications, or for an alphabetical listing see What are some ototoxic drugs?.

• Analgesics: Aspirin and Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDS), particularly Arthrotec (contains diclofenac sodium and misoprostol) and Fiorinal
• Antibiotics: aminoglycosides (e.g. gentamicin), chloramphenicol, erythromycin, tetracycline, vancomycin, Vibromycin
• Anti-malarials: quinine derivaties (also found in tonic water), especially Quinidex and Lariam (mefloquine)
• Diuretics: bumetanide, ethacrynic acid, furosemide