Hello,

My father suffers from Tinnitus, a sickness also called "Ringing in the ears".
http://www.ata.org/about_tinnitus/

Some details about his tinnitus:
in the right ear.
the beep is aproximately at 9 KHz.
He can barely here at more than 9 Khz.

My father lives in Spain. He has gone to several doctors, but
they only suggest him to learn to live with it.

We have been looking in Internet, and we have found several things:

----------------
ULTRAQUIET
http://www.hearultraquiet.com
http://www.tinnitusformula.com/infocenter/articles/treatments/ultra.aspx

A device that try to minimize the effects, but it is sold only in USA,
and moreover only a USA licensed health care provider can buy it.
----------------


----------------
TINNITUS MASKER PRO
http://www.relaxingsoftware.com/tinmaskerhome.htm

it is a software to make a sound to mask your tinnitus, so you hear
a less unpleasent noise.
He has tried, but it is also as bothering as the tinnitus itself.
----------------


------------------
Homeopatie
http://www.t-gone.com
http://www.worldofalternatives.com/tinnitus-cure.htm

they say that they can cure the tinnitus with some homeopatie,
but my father does not believe at all in this things, so
he does not even want to try.
-------------------


-------------------
WHERE TO BUY BONE CONDUCTION TRANSDUCER
I've read about how Ultraquiet works.
I am trying to do the same experiment,
I've done a program with MATLAB to shift a music by 10 KHz as described,
But I do not find where to buy a bone conduction transducer for
the high audio and ultrasonic ranges (10-20 kHz).


Someone told me that Oticon make and sell bone conductors:
www.oticon.com
and that the product "Oticon BC-461" may be of help, but they
are not sure about the frequency range of the product.
But I contacted Opticon Spain, and they do not have this product.
Moreover, I did not find the specifications for this product.


Someone else told me that in Sibelmed Spain,
http://www.sibelmed.es/
they sell a vibrator "headphones", but I did not manage to contact them.


Another friend told me that a pizoelectric transcducer could work.
I found this one:
http://www.distrelec.ch
->français (a baix)
->electronique
->automatisation
->transmetteurs de signaux
->transmetteurs de signaux acoustiques
->Dispositifs d'alarme pour montage sur plaquettes/brides
->Transducteur acoustique piézo-électrique pour oscillateur externe, EMCT
->56 00 19

But my father says that this vibrates only at one fix frequency, so
it cannot play a music signal in the range 10 - 20 Khz.
-------------------


====================
So, the question is:

Knowing that my father lives in Spain,
that I live in Switzerland
(and that my father could come to Switzerland for some time),


-how (or where) to treat his tinnitus (he won't be happy to hear about
 any homeopatie solutin like t-gone, unless really effectively proven)

-how to get the Ultraquiet device, and a doctor willing to supervise
 the treatment

-where to buy a bone conduction transducer for the high audio
 and ultrasonic ranges (10-20 kHz).

-any other thing that could help


Thank you,
DAvid

Some questions about your father's tinnitus...

Does he have any vertigo (senstaion of spinning)?

Does he have any aural fullness (sensation that his ears are full of something)?

Have they performed any investigational studies?

I'm sure you know this already, but tinnitus can sometimes be a
symptom of a more serious condition. The vast majority of the time, it
is by itself. However, it is always important to have it checked out
if the other symptoms are present.

Just my opinion...


Ed.

Dr. mercola is my first stop for any problem, he's strong on natural remedies.

http://www.mercola.com/2000/may/28/lidocaine_tinnitus.htm

He has not vertigo, nor aural fullness.

He has gone to several spanish doctors, but they only say that there
is not solution for tinnitus, only to learn to live with it.
Some investigations he has done by himself:
-Tinnitus in the right ear.
-the beep is aproximately at 9 KHz.
-He can barely hear at more than 9 Khz.
-He has diabetis, which could be the cause of the hearing loss
-He had been working in a very noise factory when he was young, and
lately he had an ulm (a kind of airplane) which made a lot of shaking
noise, which could be the cause for the tinnitus.
What other type of investigational studies can be done?

About the article of Dr. mercola,
http://www.mercola.com/2000/may/28/lidocaine_tinnitus.htm
although it sounds interesting, we don't know any doctor in spain
which could do this "lidocaine" or "Procaine without any anesthetics"
theraphy.
do you?

Hi David,

I have heard good things about "Frequency Matched Residual
Inhibition", wherein the patient's tinnitus is matched and then
recorded on CD. When the patient listens to the CD, the tinnitus in
his head will ease or stop for awhile (residual inhibition).

"For diagnosis using the software, patients are asked to identify the
sounds in their heads based on pitch and volume. One at a time, both
are increased slowly until the internal sound is matched. Then the
process is repeated in reverse. If a person is faking, Dr. Lyon says,
he or she will not be able to match it both ways.
Once the sound heard by a tinnitus sufferer is identified, a recording
of it can be made on a traditional CD or cassette tape. The patient
can then play the sound back through headphones at a prescribed volume
for up to 15 minutes. For most people, this will stop the ringing in
the ears for several hours through a process called residual
inhibition."
http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/Perspectives/Nov13-00/articles.html

Frequency Matched Residual Inhibition.
http://www.svdinc.com/audiology/tin_manage.html

Regards,
hummer

David, there's a pretty good page of various ideas here:
http://www28.brinkster.com/tinnitusinfo/index-eng.html