Tinnitus is a phantom sound perception affecting roughly 10% to 15% of people, sometimes severely.
A 2020 exploratory study found that electrical tongue stimulation paired with sound reduced tinnitus severity after 12 weeks, with improvements lasting up to a year for specific settings.
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Tinnitus is the perception of sound without an external source, often experienced as ringing, buzzing or hissing. It affects an estimated 10% to 15% of people, but its severity varies widely. A 2020 study in Science Translational Medicine tested whether pairing sound with electrical stimulation of the tongue could reduce chronic symptoms.
The randomized, double-blinded exploratory study enrolled 326 adults with chronic subjective tinnitus. Researchers assigned them to three groups that received different settings of the same general treatment: sound delivered through headphones alongside electrical pulses from a device placed on the tongue.
Treatment lasted 12 weeks, followed by a 12-month observation period. Researchers tracked changes with two established questionnaires, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and the Tinnitus Functional Index, which ask patients how tinnitus affects their daily lives.
Scores on both questionnaires improved significantly by the end of treatment across all three groups. For specific stimulation settings, the improvement continued through the 12-month follow-up. The researchers also reported high treatment compliance and no treatment-related serious adverse events.
Those findings do not show that the treatment cures tinnitus. The trial compared three active stimulation settings and did not include an untreated or sham-treatment group, making it difficult to separate the treatment effect from placebo effects or other changes over time. Its main outcomes were also based on participants' reported symptoms.
The study was sponsored by Neuromod Devices, the company behind the treatment. Several authors were employees, consultants or shareholders, and three others served on its clinical advisory board for compensation. The authors described the work as exploratory and said further clinical trials were needed.
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@ScienceMagazineTinnitus—a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears that affects about 15% of people—is difficult to understand and even harder to treat. In 2020, scientists found that shocking the tongue—combined with a carefully designed sound program—can reduce symptoms of the disorder, not just while patients are being treated, but up to 1 year later. Learn more: https://scim.ag/474VmsH #ScienceMagArchives@ScienceMagazineTinnitus—a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears that affects about 15% of people—is difficult to understand and even harder to treat. In 2020, scientists found that shocking the tongue—combined with a carefully designed sound program—can reduce symptoms of the disorder, not just while patients are being treated, but up to 1 year later. Learn more: https://scim.ag/474VmsH #ScienceMagArchives@ScienceMagazineTinnitus—a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears that affects about 15% of people—is difficult to understand and even harder to treat. In 2020, scientists found that shocking the tongue—combined with a carefully designed sound program—can reduce symptoms of the disorder, not just while patients are being treated, but up to 1 year later. Learn more: https://scim.ag/474VmsH #ScienceMagArchives@ScienceMagazineTinnitus—a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears that affects about 15% of people—is difficult to understand and even harder to treat. In 2020, scientists found that shocking the tongue—combined with a carefully designed sound program—can reduce symptoms of the disorder, not just while patients are being treated, but up to 1 year later. Learn more: https://scim.ag/474VmsH #ScienceMagArchives
