Tinnitus: buzzing against the whistling in the ear

Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Tinnitus robs many patients of the ability to calm down. But the tormentor can be chased away - by humming against him.

German heads are buzzing and buzzing: tinnitus is omnipresent. "Most people don't notice anything - they automatically filter out the meaningless tones," says tinnitus expert Dr. Heike Argstatter in conversation with If the noises do become noticeable, they usually do not disturb and quickly disappear on their own.

But there are exceptions: With two percent of Germans, the tones not only slip into consciousness, they become grueling pests. "That happens when the filter functions in the head are disturbed," says the psychologist. Those affected suffer from concentration disorders and sleep problems, are stressed and thin-skinned, some despair of the constant alarm in their skull.

Tamed spook

You can find help at the German Center for Music Therapy Research (DZM) in Heidelberg, where the ghost can often be tamed - with the help of special music therapy. "Due to the permeable filters, certain frequencies are overrepresented in the brain of tinnitus patients - we try to correct that," explains Argstatter, who looks after patients at the DZM.

It is important to first identify your personal tinnitus tone and then imitate it as precisely as possible. The patient describes what the tone sounds like, the music therapist tries around until she has found the right frequency. Then she asks the patient to hum the note.

"Like piano parts in the brain"

At first this is an astonishingly difficult undertaking - it is far more difficult to hit the tinnitus tone than with other tones. “Characteristic inaccuracies in hearing occur in tinnitus. That's why it's not easy to sing after them at first. "

By actively listening and humming, the corresponding brain regions are activated and gradually readjusted. “It's like tuning a piano,” says Argstatter. Here, too, the discordant notes fit into the harmony of the instrument.

Irritated hearing center

The fact that phantom tones arise at all can have various causes. Circulatory disorders in the inner ear, for example, which affect the hair cells. Often the tones appear after a sudden hearing loss. For many, the phenomenon is also due to a hearing loss: due to the hearing loss, certain auditory signals in the brain are absent. This irritates the hearing center and causes it to simulate the corresponding frequencies: a phantom sound is created.

"In fact, the tinnitus tone of the hard of hearing is mostly in the range of the lost frequency," the tinnitus therapist reports. However, that alone is not enough to explain: Not every hearing-impaired person develops tinnitus - and not every tinnitus patient suffers from a hearing loss.

Too much going on

This is where the disturbed filter functions come into play again. Stress plays a central role in this. "Tinnitus usually appears when someone literally has too much on their minds," says Argstatter. Larger burdens such as changing jobs, building a house or having a child, for example.

“But there can also be many smaller stressors that add up - a lot of work and a sick child as well. These are situations in which tinnitus occurs because the filters open. ”The continuous tone in the head becomes another stressor - a vicious circle.

Relaxation bath for tinnitus tones

The second stage of musical tinnitus therapy is used to break through this. The patient chooses a piece of music that he finds relaxing. The therapists embed their personal tinnitus tone in this.

"The point is to have positive tinnitus - that is basically a classic conditioning," says the psychologist. The patients learn to feel comfortable despite the background noise. The aim is that they no longer perceive the sound or that they can fade it out again very quickly.

Restless brain

The researchers were able to confirm in studies that the therapy works. "With the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), we found that the brain of tinnitus patients does not come to rest properly," reports Argstatter.

In people without tinnitus, the brain showed typical rest patterns in the brain between two thinking tasks. “The brain is then not passive, it processes information received unconsciously. A relaxation network in the brain is highly active, ”the scientist knows. With tinnitus patients, on the other hand, the rest patterns do not really want to set in between tasks. The tinnitone tone demands attention.

Normalized brain functions

Thanks to the music therapy, the activity patterns at rest returned to a large extent in three out of four patients - their brain was able to recover again. All that was necessary was a one-week treatment with a total of ten sessions of 50 minutes each.

At the end of the therapy week, the participants estimated the volume of the sound to be only an average of 38 percent out of an unbearable hundred. Previously, the perception of the volume was 57 percent.

At the same time, the feeling of relaxation increased to around 85 percent from a maximum of one hundred percent total relaxation. In addition, the patients were able to consciously enjoy the rest phases again and gave the learned, self-directed relaxation nine out of ten "feel-good points".

First the hearing aid, then the music

However, the therapy is not suitable for everyone. "We recommend that patients who are hard of hearing first compensate for their hearing loss with a hearing aid," says Argstatter. Only then can the therapy really take hold.

Even people who are psychologically stressed, for example suffering from depression or anxiety disorders, are not ideal candidates. "Basically this is a confrontation therapy: You have to deal actively with the tormenting sound," explains the music therapist. People who are already mentally stressed are often overwhelmed with this.

A special musical talent on the part of the patient, however, is not necessary for the treatment: "We have the whole range here: from people who have driven their music teacher to despair to opera singers."

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