A new study has discovered a non-invasive treatment for symptoms of tinnitus, a condition that creates a ringing or buzzing in the ears of about 15 percent of United States adults. The new therapy uses electromagnetic pulses to treat the stressors that affect the physical and mental wellbeing of acute and chronic tinnitus sufferers. Its use of electric current could become the first approved treatment for the medical condition.
A ringing sensation in one or two ears that has no logical explanation is the result of tinnitus, according to NewsLedge. It affects about 20 percent of people.
Tinnitus could be a symptom of ear injuries and other health conditions. Around 1 in 5 people with chronic tinnitus say the problem has a negative effect on their quality of life.
Oregon medical researchers conducted the study on 70 patients suffereing from tinnitus. The volunteers were sorted into two groups: the control group that was issued a placebo treatment, and the experimental group that was given a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (r-TMS).
TMS involves placing a coil that contains an electric current, on the scalp of the patient. The current makes magmatism that affects brain cells on the scalp region.
Each TMS session included 2,000 pulses. The treatment was given for 10 days in a row.
Robert Folmer, one of the study's researchers, stated that side effects included eye twitching and jaw movement. However, no participants withdrew from the treatment trials.
All of the tinnitus patients had less ear ringing afterwards. The success rate for the TMS group was two-thirds, but for the placebo group was just 38 percent.
Researchers admit that more studies are needed. In 2008 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved rTMS to treat chronic depression, while it has been used in other studies to test treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Parkinson's disease, and strokes, according to Immortal.org.