Lenire for Tinnitus: A Revolutionary Treatment

After a brief hiatus, the Peter Byrom blog is back! This time I’m focusing on a revolutionary new treatment to help those with tinnitus, Lenire. Before we dive in, let’s remind ourselves what it is; tinnitus is a ringing or buzzing in the ears that doesn’t come from an external sound.

Of course, Tinnitus has been a big part of my audiology career over the years; from my time at Rotherham NHS where tinnitus was my specialist field, to my Masters in Advanced Practice where my research paper was focused on tinnitus and to the present where I have treated over 1000 patients.

What do different treatments look like?

Traditional methods of treating tinnitus include relaxation techniques, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and sound therapy. However, a new device is approaching it in a different way.

The Lenire treatment uses non-invasive bimodal neuromodulation, which means its targets two sensory pathways to modulate or suppress tinnitus symptoms.

How does it work?

The patient wears headphones and places a small device on the surface of their tongue. Unique sound patterns are delivered to the auditory system through the headphones. Mild and safe electrical pulses are delivered to the tongue to activate the touch nerves.

Why does it work?

During treatment, this stimulation also targets the emotional and attention systems of the brain. Activating these different pathways in a coordinated way over time promotes therapeutic plasticity in the brain. Altogether, this is what helps to alleviate the symptoms of tinnitus.

The beauty of Lenire treatment is that it is tailored to the individual and no treatment plan is the same.

How can we measure the results?

In a trial with over 100 patients, a Tinnitus Handicap Inventory was used. Basically, this is a score from 0 to 100 where the higher the score, the worse the tinnitus.

91% of patients in Lenire’s trial averaged a 20.3 point reduction (THI) in tinnitus that lasted for at least a year after the trial.

In their largest trial with over 600 patients, 83% of participants would recommend Lenire for treating tinnitus.

https://www.lenire.com/

What happens at your appointment?

If you would like to try Lenire to treat your tinnitus, this is what you can expect:

• Initial assessment: very similar to how I work with all of my tinnitus patients, first we establish how it affects you and your life and any strategies you are already using. If we think Lenire could work for you, we work on a plan together.
• Device fitting: we set the audio and tongue stimulation parameters based on your audiological profile to ensure the treatment is prescribed to your needs.
• Home use: as part of your treatment plan, we work out how often you need to use the system at home, for example first thing when you wake up.
• Follow up: we review how the treatment is working for you and whether we need to make any adjustments. Hopefully after this final step you will start to see a reduction in the impact that your tinnitus is having on you.

What next?

Finally,

My own tinnitus clinic runs from Thornbury Hospital in Sheffield but home visits are also an option. Your first session includes a full audiological assessment to make sure there are no underlying conditions at play, before we agree a treatment plan and get you on the road to managing your tinnitus.

As always, you can get in touch via phone, email or the website.

Take care,

Peter