"From the start, the confidence bred by the fact that one could use the device to get to sleep was important."

Sudden and severe exacerbation of tinnitus can be and was profoundly distressing. This had occurred superimposed on a background of at least a decade of slowly progressive symmetrical tinnitus associated with hearing loss. This was manageable because one learnt to live with it and ignore it. There was always in the background a concern if one noticed it and concentrated on it that it could become profoundly intrusive. When the tinnitus became much worse, it produced a very severe dislocation in sleep patterns requiring medication to get to sleep, the use of music in ones ears was partly helpful but not greatly so and always was the knowledge that this was unlikely to go away. The old text books having said that this was something that was not curable. Confronting the fact that this loud noise is likely to be persistent, has a major impact on ones emotional state and capacity to cope with the symptoms.

When the audiologist responsible for my care briefed me on the potential for treatment of tinnitus, I was initially skeptical. Nonetheless, because of the severity of the problem I was willing to try anything. The cost was substantial, the program of using the device rigorous. Nonetheless the training provided initially by the neuromonics staff and subsequently by my own audiologist was very helpful and reassuring.

From the start, the confidence bred by the fact that one could use the device to get to sleep was important. Subsequently one felt that the device had done a considerable amount but had not done everything. Nonetheless, over a six month period there was no doubt that the device was doing what it claimed to do and one was able to live with the tinnitus and not be affected by it. With the passage of a further 12 months and the intermittent use of the machine the tinnitus is no longer a problem. It rarely occurs and is easily controlled by the machine.

I do not think there can be any doubt that the machine does what it claims to do and does it within the time frame that it prescribes. To my knowledge there is no other device or method available which achieves what the neuromonics machine has achieved.

If one were to complain of any aspects, it is the bulkiness of the equipment and ones inability to transfer the software to another device such as an IPod. Thus with travel one is encumbered by the charger and the device itself. The hardware when compared with more sophisticated devices such as an IPod is of course not as easy or as convenient to use. Nonetheless the availability and the efficacy of the device is such that to someone who has suffered both mild and severe tinnitus it must be regarded as a great step forward for those people on whom tinnitus is inflicted.

Consultant Physician