Abstract:
Tinnitus is the experience of hearing in absence of external auditory stimuli. It has become a common hearing issue among people across all the age range. Tinnitus can be a sign of a variety of underlying conditions and comes with a variety of comorbidities. As a result, complete tinnitus diagnosis requires an integrated multidisciplinary approach. For many years, noise generators or tinnitus maskers have been extensively suggested. The usefulness of their use in tinnitus management programs that combine counselling and acoustic therapy has been questioned by a number of studies. The present study aimed to systematically review the benefit provided by an acoustic desensitization protocol known as Neuromonics tinnitus treatment (NTT) technique that integrates the principles of systematic desensitization, constructed counselling and spectrally adjusted sound stimulation, which includes music and broad-spectrum noises. Different databases were searched and six articles were finally selected for the final qualitative analysis. The current review suggests that there was significant improvement in tinnitus related distress post treatment. There is a steady improvement in the symptoms of tinnitus after the treatment. This review helps to address about the acceptability and feasibility of using NTT program in patients with severe tinnitus. It also adds to the knowledge about tinnitus involving intervention based on behavioral, emotional and cognitive aspects to audiologists. Limited studies have explored the significant benefit provided by NTT. However, overall significant improvement has been shown with time with the treatment approach.
