Got tinnitus? A device that tickles the tongue helps this musician find relief
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: You perceived a high-pitched buzz that just wouldn't go away. That's what Victoria Banks has lived with.
VICTORIA BANKS: The noise in my head feels like a bunch of cicadas. It's just this really high-pitched, ringy buzzing that's constantly going.
AUBREY: Banks is a singer and songwriter in Nashville. She developed tinnitus about three years ago.
BANKS: Especially as a musician, it's important for me to be able to listen to pitch and to be able to sing. And this was interrupting everything, so it was terrifying.
AUBREY: She tried lots of strategies in hopes the buzz would just go away.
BANKS: I was taking high doses of vitamins, I was taking oils, I was exercising.
AUBREY: But nothing was working. Then she read about a device that electrically stimulates the tongue. It had recently been approved by the FDA, and she found an audiologist, Brian Fligor, in Boston, who was one of the first providers in the U.S. to use it with his patients.
BRIAN FLIGOR: A good candidate for this device is somebody who's had tinnitus for at least three months, and we know that there's not some other underlying medical thing that needs to be treated first.
AUBREY: Since loss of hearing often accompanies tinnitus, hearing aids are an approved treatment option. But Victoria Banks' hearing was fine, and she didn't have any other medical condition. Dr. Fligor explained to her how the device could help her shift her attention away from the buzz.
FLIGOR: The part of our brain that focuses on information coming in. Think of it like a spotlight at a show, and it's pointing its attention at that thing that is most important on the stage.
AUBREY: When you have tinnitus, Fligor says that spotlight is on that buzz or ringing in the ear. The device works by redirecting the spotlight. To get started, he fits patients with a mouthpiece that includes tiny electrodes that stimulate the tongue. Then they get a Bluetooth headset that plays a series of tones and ocean wave sounds.
FLIGOR: It's the combination of what you're feeling through the nerves in your tongue and what you're hearing through your ears happening in synchrony that causes the spotlight in your brain to not be so stuck on the tinnitus so it unsticks your spotlight.
AUBREY: Victoria Banks use the device an hour each day for four months. She says the ringing in her ears did not completely disappear, but now she hardly notices it on most days.
BANKS: I guess it's kind of like if I lived near a waterfall and the waterfall was constantly going. My brain is focusing in on other things, and it's not distracting. It's not standing in the way of me listening to music, writing music, performing music. I'm doing all of those things actively.
AUBREY: If the buzz revs up, a session with the device helps, she says. A clinical trial found about 80% of people who tried the device, which is called Lenire, saw significant improvements in their symptoms.
FLIGOR: Where this device fits into the big picture is it's not a cure-all. It's not the only approach, but it's quickly become my go-to.
AUBREY: Because it helps many of his patients who haven't found relief from other strategies. One downside is the cost. Banks paid about $4,000, and insurance doesn't cover it. It's been available for about a year, and the hope is that as the evidence accumulates, insurers will pay. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.
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