Tinnitus: time for the next step in treatment

Tinnitus: time for the next step in treatment

Tinnitus affects approximately 1 in 7 adults worldwide.
For many people, it's not just a sound. When concentration problems, mental fatigue, anxiety or emotional disorders are also added, we are actually talking about a tinnitus disorder.

For decades, treatments mainly tried to reduce suffering, learning how to deal with the sound.
But the sound itself often remained present.

Recent scientific insights show why.

Tinnitus does not appear to be a local ear problem, but a network disorder in the brain.
Several systems play a role together:

- auditory networks that generate the signal

- attention and salience networks that make sound important

- declining inhibitory “noise cancelling” systems that should normally suppress it

When these systems get out of balance, the brain continues to amplify the signal.

Classical neuromodulation (such as rTMS and tES) can affect the network, but the effects are often limited and temporary when only one region is stimulated.
New studies show that better results occur when we use multiple systems at the same time.

That is why neuromodulation is evolving today from a single target area to a personalized network treatment.

Bimodal stimulation (auditory + somatosensory) and techniques that can also modulate deeper brain circuits show more sustainable effects.
This is in line with what we have been experiencing clinically for some time: permanent improvement rarely results from a single intervention, multiple sessions have to be performed and post-treatment is also crucial.

At BRAI3N, we therefore do not work with standard protocols, but with a clinically guided process:

- intake and analysis (including qEEG)

- targeted stimulation

- evaluation and adjustment

The goal is not just to suppress noise, but to restore the brain networks that maintain tinnitus.

Neuromodulation is not a panacea. But it is one of the most promising ways to treat tinnitus biologically today.

Publication: Next-generation neuromodulation in tinnitus: multimodal approaches and deep targets