Tinnitus Neuromonics
My grandmother turns 92 this year and is still in a good state.
Though she has maintained her good health, she started losing her hearing at an earlier stage of her life.
As a diligent businesswoman, she was a constant presence in our sawmilling business and this has exposed her to loud machines noises, some shouting and a lot of sawmilling.
The third generation of our family has been detached from the business; most of the grandchildren have ventured into a new business in couture, and have become professionals in the different industries, including medicine.
I became an investments banker and have not been exposed to very loud noises, except for some sporadic irate clients screaming through my receiver.
But recently, I started hearing low buzzing in my left ear, like a fly that unceasingly buzzes near my ear.
Other times, it seems like a horrendous fleet of flies are with me in my room, taking part of my conversations about investments, treasury bonds and the like.
One day, I woke up with a loud shrilling inside my head, like a saw mill cutting one of those gigantic logs I saw in my childhood.
I felt my head throb with pain, close to almost bursting and breaking up.
I was sure I was losing it.
When I visited my doctor, I learned that all I was losing was my left ear.
I have tinnitus.
Tinnitus is the perception of noises in either one or both ears in the absence of any external sound.
It can range from buzzing, whispering, whooshing to ringing and clanging.
There has been no known cure for tinnitus and as my doctor has repeatedly said, tinnitus can be a lifetime condition.
He also told me that I would have to live with my new-found 'fly' friends.
Like ghosts in the night, they constantly haunt me in my sleep and into the dark night.
I often wake up sleepless, groggy and yes, moody.
I tried keeping my iPod turned on at night, with the soft humming of Michael Bouble or Eric Benet, in my attempt to mask the noises and lull myself to sleep.
I tried loading up on Vitamin B complex and have even tried over-the-counter medicines that offered tinnitus relief.
But all to no avail.
Tinnitus is a condition that affects about 50 Million Americans, 12 Million of whom have serious tinnitus that they seek medical intervention and about 2 Million of those have given up on a normal lifestyle.
Then on one of my trips to Singapore, I found out that a friend who also suffers from tinnitus had found a relief from the condition.
The relief came in a small package labeled Neuromonics.
Neuromonics is a treatment device that can offer long-term relief for tinnitus.
It was developed by Australian audiologist named Dr.
Paul Davis.
The treatment has been a popular option in the USA, with about 200 medical centers offering Neuromonics and to date, the breakthrough technology and therapy has reached New Zealand, and yes, Singapore.
The Neuromonics treatment functions by retaining neural pathways in the brain and conditioning our auditory system to the sounds that we hear that it becomes desensitized.
The therapy makes use of a device (Neuromonics Device) which resembles your iPod.
It also contains a playlist of specific music, four tracks of soothing music and comforting sounds of nature.
These calming sounds are embedded with pleasant acoustic neural stimuli, and these in time, will filter out the tinnitus noises.
Your audiologist and Neuromonics professional will assess a patient's tinnitus and level of hearing loss.
Once an audiological profile has been established and the neuromonics treatment has been chosen, the treatment process will commence.
Neuromonics aims to relieve the symptoms of tinnitus and would require us to listen to the device for at least three hours each day.
My audiologist has recommended that I do so during the night, when my tinnitus is at its worst.
Contrary to common perception, the neuromonics device is not a masking device, and the neuromonics treatment does not just aim to calm the patient but also breaks the cycle of tinnitus.
By the end of neuromonics treatment, the patient awareness and disturbance of tinnitus is significantly reduced.
Though she has maintained her good health, she started losing her hearing at an earlier stage of her life.
As a diligent businesswoman, she was a constant presence in our sawmilling business and this has exposed her to loud machines noises, some shouting and a lot of sawmilling.
The third generation of our family has been detached from the business; most of the grandchildren have ventured into a new business in couture, and have become professionals in the different industries, including medicine.
I became an investments banker and have not been exposed to very loud noises, except for some sporadic irate clients screaming through my receiver.
But recently, I started hearing low buzzing in my left ear, like a fly that unceasingly buzzes near my ear.
Other times, it seems like a horrendous fleet of flies are with me in my room, taking part of my conversations about investments, treasury bonds and the like.
One day, I woke up with a loud shrilling inside my head, like a saw mill cutting one of those gigantic logs I saw in my childhood.
I felt my head throb with pain, close to almost bursting and breaking up.
I was sure I was losing it.
When I visited my doctor, I learned that all I was losing was my left ear.
I have tinnitus.
Tinnitus is the perception of noises in either one or both ears in the absence of any external sound.
It can range from buzzing, whispering, whooshing to ringing and clanging.
There has been no known cure for tinnitus and as my doctor has repeatedly said, tinnitus can be a lifetime condition.
He also told me that I would have to live with my new-found 'fly' friends.
Like ghosts in the night, they constantly haunt me in my sleep and into the dark night.
I often wake up sleepless, groggy and yes, moody.
I tried keeping my iPod turned on at night, with the soft humming of Michael Bouble or Eric Benet, in my attempt to mask the noises and lull myself to sleep.
I tried loading up on Vitamin B complex and have even tried over-the-counter medicines that offered tinnitus relief.
But all to no avail.
Tinnitus is a condition that affects about 50 Million Americans, 12 Million of whom have serious tinnitus that they seek medical intervention and about 2 Million of those have given up on a normal lifestyle.
Then on one of my trips to Singapore, I found out that a friend who also suffers from tinnitus had found a relief from the condition.
The relief came in a small package labeled Neuromonics.
Neuromonics is a treatment device that can offer long-term relief for tinnitus.
It was developed by Australian audiologist named Dr.
Paul Davis.
The treatment has been a popular option in the USA, with about 200 medical centers offering Neuromonics and to date, the breakthrough technology and therapy has reached New Zealand, and yes, Singapore.
The Neuromonics treatment functions by retaining neural pathways in the brain and conditioning our auditory system to the sounds that we hear that it becomes desensitized.
The therapy makes use of a device (Neuromonics Device) which resembles your iPod.
It also contains a playlist of specific music, four tracks of soothing music and comforting sounds of nature.
These calming sounds are embedded with pleasant acoustic neural stimuli, and these in time, will filter out the tinnitus noises.
Your audiologist and Neuromonics professional will assess a patient's tinnitus and level of hearing loss.
Once an audiological profile has been established and the neuromonics treatment has been chosen, the treatment process will commence.
Neuromonics aims to relieve the symptoms of tinnitus and would require us to listen to the device for at least three hours each day.
My audiologist has recommended that I do so during the night, when my tinnitus is at its worst.
Contrary to common perception, the neuromonics device is not a masking device, and the neuromonics treatment does not just aim to calm the patient but also breaks the cycle of tinnitus.
By the end of neuromonics treatment, the patient awareness and disturbance of tinnitus is significantly reduced.