Tinnitis Therapy

[jclin4]

I came across this small news item and thought it might be of interest:

1. Tinnitis can be a problem for those of us who are older and affects our enjoyment of this hobby
2. The therapy involves the familiar notch filter, and listening to more music!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/science/05obhear.html?ref=science

[stangbat]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

Interesting. Sounds like something you could do with Audacity. I know the frequency of my tinnitis is 13 kHz. :D Hmmm...

[jclin4]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

Let us know if you try it and if it works!

My own tinnitis is slight and only comes when I'm tired. I don't know what frequency, but I just went the piano and confirmed it is an E-flat. :rolleyes:

[Wolf]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

Let us know if you try it and if it works!

My own tinnitis is slight and only comes when I'm tired. I don't know what frequency, but I just went the piano and confirmed it is an E-flat. :rolleyes:

I take Lipo-gen/Lipoflavonoid to help with mine, and it does reduce the level a bit, or a majority in some people. I'm pretty sure mine is about 10-12kHz in region.
Later,
Wolf

[stangbat]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

From the article what is notched is:
"a one-octave frequency band, centered on the frequency of the ringing experienced by the subject"

In the information given in the abstract, they used 4000 Hz as the frequency and notched an octave around it. So a one octave notch centered on 4000 Hz would be from 3000-6000 Hz, right?

My thinking is one octave below 4000 Hz is 2000 Hz, an octave above is 8000 Hz. So splitting the difference of an octave below and above 4000 Hz should give you a total octave that is centered on 4000 Hz.

Or from (n-n/4) to (n+n/2) where n is the center frequency of the notch.

Am I thinking correctly?

[jclin4]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

Yes I believe you have it. So your octave would be from 9750Hz to 19500Hz. Centering the notch on the frequency of ringing makes sense to me, but I have to imagine the choice of exactly an octave is somewhat arbitrary.

[stangbat]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

For me, removing anything above 13 kHz really would do nothing as I cannot hear above that frequency. So if I did a low pass at 9750 Hz it would effectively accomplish the same thing.

My first though was why not just use an EQ in Winamp (or whatever playback software you use) and drop everything above 9750 Hz. But doing that won't drop the desired frequencies entirely, just reduce them although it may be enough. Easier than editing a bunch of music though. Maybe it would work?

Audacity will let you set up to 48 db/octave of rolloff. I'll have to look at it closer vs EQ.

[Dirk]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

For me, removing anything above 13 kHz really would do nothing as I cannot hear above that frequency. So if I did a low pass at 9750 Hz it would effectively accomplish the same thing.

My first though was why not just use an EQ in Winamp (or whatever playback software you use) and drop everything above 9750 Hz. But doing that won't drop the desired frequencies entirely, just reduce them although it may be enough. Easier than editing a bunch of music though. Maybe it would work?

Audacity will let you set up to 48 db/octave of rolloff. I'll have to look at it closer vs EQ.

Is it that you can't hear 13khz, or that it's covered up by the Tinnitus? ;)

I know my hearing extends nice & high, but I still have the occiasional ringing for no good reason. This doesn't hurt to try!

I like the idea of the EQ. There's a Winamp plugin called the "Shibatch Super Equalizer." It's a little buggy, but it's an excellent 18-band EQ, plus an unlimited number of parametric bands.

[stangbat]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

Is it that you can't hear 13khz, or that it's covered up by the Tinnitus? ;)

I know my hearing extends nice & high, but I still have the occiasional ringing for no good reason. This doesn't hurt to try!

I like the idea of the EQ. There's a Winamp plugin called the "Shibatch Super Equalizer." It's a little buggy, but it's an excellent 18-band EQ, plus an unlimited number of parametric bands.

I've used that plugin. I set up a new computer and I haven't downloaded it again. I need to do that.

The constant ringing I hear matches up with 13 kHz. So I guess I can hear 13 kHz, it is just at a constant level. :D I can duplicate the sound with tone generating software. Put on a 13 kHz test tone that is what I hear all the time unless there is a fair amount of ambient noise. And anything above this I flat out can't hear. I know my speakers will reproduce sounds above 13 kHz, measurements and my daughter verify this. ;)

I'm fortunate, my tinnitis really doesn't bother me much. I'd prefer it not be there, and if there is an easy way to get rid of it I'm all for it. But if not, I can easily live with it.

[Zilch]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

FBD will get it nicely, most likely, but I'm having difficulty determining the actual frequency.

[Ain't as if I can print it out.... :rolleyes: ]

[Chris Roemer]

Re: More precisely . . .

From the article what is notched is:
"a one-octave frequency band, centered on the frequency of the ringing experienced by the subject"

In the information given in the abstract, they used 4000 Hz as the frequency and notched an octave around it. So a one octave notch centered on 4000 Hz would be from 3000-6000 Hz, right?

My thinking is one octave below 4000 Hz is 2000 Hz, an octave above is 8000 Hz. So splitting the difference of an octave below and above 4000 Hz should give you a total octave that is centered on 4000 Hz.

Or from (n-n/4) to (n+n/2) where n is the center frequency of the notch.

Am I thinking correctly?

If you want to notch 1/2 octave above/below 4000 Hz, it would run from a low of n/2^.5 to n*2^.5, OR (is THIS case)
4000/sqrt(2) to a high of 4000*sqrt(2), OR
4000/1.414 to 4000*1.414, OR
2829 to 5657.

[Slanski62]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

What awesome timing for this thread! Two days ago, I went to see an otolaryngologist at Duke who specialized in tinnitus. He said that they offer a therapy, developed by another company, that sounds very similar to the approach in this article. The price? $5,000. For that price, I can buy a lot of dsp software plus a new Mac to DIY. Thanks for the post jclin4.

Steve

[jclin4]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

What awesome timing for this thread! Two days ago, I went to see an otolaryngologist at Duke who specialized in tinnitus. He said that they offer a therapy, developed by another company, that sounds very similar to the approach in this article. The price? $5,000. For that price, I can buy a lot of dsp software plus a new Mac to DIY. Thanks for the post jclin4.

Steve

DIY therapy...I like it! :p

I also like your avatar.

Cheers,
- John

[Æ]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

I take Lipo-gen/Lipoflavonoid to help with mine, and it does reduce the level a bit, or a majority in some people. I'm pretty sure mine is about 10-12kHz in region.
Later,
Wolf

Aren't you a bit young to have tinnitus? Do you think it's from building too many loudspeakers? Or from too much fork lift driving?

I sometimes get a little tinnitus in my left ear. I've had some dental issues on the upper left side, had some of it fixed last year and my tinnitus subsided quite a bit. I'm wondering if there is a relation/correlation.
Have you read that gum disease is bad for your heart? Extra germs floating in your blood stream affect your heart, inflammation, no kidding. Research it if you think it's not so. Anyway I was thinking maybe the same thing about oral health and tinnitus.

How is your caffeine consumption?

How does that lipoflavinoid stuff really work for you? Does it help very much or maybe just a placebo effect? It's on my to do list. Research and buy some. What brand do you use? Was it prescribed for you? Did you get a recommendation from someone?
Thanks
Alan

[Æ]

Re: Tinnitis Therapy

I know this guy who developed a treatment for tinnitus.

http://www.freshpatents.com/-dt20090129ptan20090028352.php