Latest news with #Lenire
CBS News
12-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
New device helps patients cope with tinnitus, Pennsylvania audiologist says
A growing number of patients are turning to a new treatment for a condition that causes ringing in the ears. The device tricks the brain with a tickle to the tongue. Silence really is golden for Clara Flores. Her days used to be filled with the constant buzzing and ringing that comes with tinnitus, which affects 25 million Americans. "This ringing that you hate and can't stand ... you cannot turn it off," Flores said. "You get depressed, you get angry. Your relationships suffer." But the maddening noise is not a hearing problem, according to Bala Cynwyd audiologist Gail Brenner. "Tinnitus is a sound that we perceive in our ears or head that's internally generated by the brain," Brenner said. And now, for the first time, she says there's finally a treatment that works for most patients Lenire is an FDA-approved device that works with headphones and a tongue stimulator. The electrical pulses from the device "feel like bubbly Champagne," she said. "It's just a tiny little tingle, and that's all we need for the signal to transmit to the brain." Lenire costs $4,000 and isn't covered by insurance. It worked for Flores, who listened to the soothing sounds with the mouthpiece for 12 weeks — twice a day for half an hour. "It did magic to my brain," Flores said. The maker of Lenire says it works by retraining the brain not to hear the sounds from tinnitus that can be caused by loud noise, hearing loss and infections. "We're teaching the brain to not pay attention to the tinnitus," Brenner said. "It has been a game-changer." Flores thinks her tinnitus was caused by an infection, but she doesn't notice the buzzing anymore. "It doesn't bother me. I forget about it," Flores said. Her brain is refocused and noise-free now, giving her a new lease on life. Research on the Lenire device showed that about 80% of the people who tested it had significant improvements.
USA Today
29-04-2025
- Health
- USA Today
She woke up to cicadas buzzing in her head. Here's how she found relief.
She woke up to cicadas buzzing in her head. Here's how she found relief. Show Caption Hide Caption Siblings with hearing loss have magical ASL chat with Buzz Lightyear A trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, turned magical for siblings Jabez and Evelyn when they met Buzz Lightyear, who knew American Sign Language. Victoria Banks woke up from a nap one afternoon in October 2022 to the sound of cicadas buzzing in her head. The Nashville singer-songwriter waited a full day with the high-pitched, pulsing sound before calling her doctor to check her ears. After a full workup, he said the problem wasn't her ears – it was her brain. Banks, 52, learned she was suffering from tinnitus, the perception of sound when there's no external source. If the brain doesn't receive the sound signals it's expecting, it tries to compensate by creating noise, said Emily McMahan, an audiologist who practices in Anchorage, Alaska. "It's the overproduction of brain activity that the person is perceiving as a sound," she said. Tinnitus typically wanes or goes away for about 80% of the patients who report experiencing it, McMahan said. But traditional treatment methods for the remaining 20%, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or hearing aids, aren't always effective. That changed in March 2023 when a new medical device called Lenire was introduced to the U.S. market. Researchers found over 91% of tinnitus patients saw an improvement with Lenire, according to a Nature study of about 200 patients published April 28. But audiologists say the bimodal, neuromodulation device, which retails for about $4,500, isn't for everyone. Only patients with severe cases who are the most dedicated to treating their tinnitus should be considered, said Patty Kalmbach, an audiologist in Denver, Colorado. "When it's put on the proper patient for the proper reasons, the patient does well," she said. "It's definitely not the only tool in our toolbox but it's been a great tool for us to offer to patients who are distraught and it's their final straw." What is tinnitus? Tinnitus can be triggered by prolonged noise exposure, age-related hearing loss, ear trauma or injuries or medical conditions like blood vessel problems or tumors, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Certain medications, such as chemotherapy, have also been associated with developing tinnitus. Between 10% and 25% of adults experience what's medically termed tinnitus, according to the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, but hearing the sound for three months or more is considered chronic tinnitus. Although it can be characterized by a ringing, pulsing, buzzing, hissing or squealing sound, audiologists say the source of the condition lies in the brain's neural networks. People with tinnitus may experience frustration, problems sleeping, relationship troubles, difficulty concentrating, heightened anxiety, irritability and mental health issues. What's the name for that? Easily annoyed by noises like gum smacking or cereal slurping. 'It gave me relief... it gave me power' Banks was also at the end of her rope right before finding Lenire. Like Carrasco, she tried dietary supplements, meditation, oils and other methods suggested by Internet forums. By July 2023, more than eight months after her tinnitus first appeared, the cicada infestation in her head didn't subside. She had difficulty concentrating on her music and her anxiety was at an all-time high. 'It felt like there's something broken in my body that's never going to be fixed,' she said. 'The inability to control it is probably the hardest thing. You feel powerless.' The Lenire device, which looks like an original iPod, sends currents of tongue stimulation that correspond with noises the patient hears through headphones. Patients must wear the device for at least 60 minutes a day for 12 weeks. Banks wore her Lenire device 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night. The tongue stimulations felt like fizzy candy, she said. The device works by training the brain to ignore the tinnitus noise and pay attention to the "right" noises, said Ross O'Neill, inventor of Lenire and founding CEO of Neuromod, a medical device company. "Your brain only has so much attention it can give to any one thing," he said. As patients use Lenire, the device "gradually dilutes" the tinnitus sound. Banks' tinnitus began improving after four months of using Lenire. 'It gave me relief,' Banks said. 'It gave me power over something that I didn't have power over.' Lenire isn't for everyone Lenire works differently for each patient and the key to success is consistency, said Kalmbach, from Denver, Colorado. She doesn't recommend the device to patients who have mild tinnitus or aren't bothered by the noises they perceive. In these cases, treatment can risk worsening their tinnitus by drawing more attention to the noise. For those who can benefit from Lenire, "they need to do the work," she said. This means dedicating at least 60 minutes a day to the device without fail or distractions. The treatment is less likely to work if patients skip days or use Lenire while doing other activities, such as watching television or responding to e-mails. It also means improving lifestyle factors that can impact tinnitus severity such as cutting down on caffeine, alcohol and stressors; improving sleep; and treating other mental health conditions. The device is also not recommended for those who have an implantable device; are pregnant; have epilepsy; have conditions that impact tongue sensitivity; or have mouth lesions, sores or inflammation. The device also shouldn't be used for people with objective tinnitus, which originates from the ear canal as opposed to the brain. Some tinnitus patients have also found relief with other treatment options, but sound therapy "is for a very specific group of patients and it's definitely not for everyone," Kalmbach said. "Lenire is a great treatment but I also think it depends on whose hands it is in." Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@
Irish Independent
28-04-2025
- Health
- Irish Independent
Irish-developed device to treat tinnitus ‘significantly' reduces symptoms, clinical trial finds
'Many people experience short-term, or transient, tinnitus, after loud noise exposure at a concert or work,' said Dr Ross O'Neill – who received his PhD from Maynooth University - the inventor of the Lenire device. A US clinical trial of Lenire, involving 220 patients at the Alaska Hearing & Tinnitus Center, reported in Nature Communications Medicine found that 91pc of patients involved had a 'clinically significant' reduction in their tinnitus after 12 weeks of treatment with Lenire. Most commonly, tinnitus is caused by ageing, exposure to loud noise at concerts or working in potentially noisy occupations like construction. It can also affect people in quieter roles such as software developers because people in these less noisy environments can have an increased perception of tinnitus. In the most severe cases, tinnitus can lead to depression, anxiety and social isolation and in the most extreme cases, and even result in self-harm ideation. Up to now, few proven treatment options existed for tinnitus. 'Typically patients would be told to practice cognitive behavioural therapy, to mask the tinnitus noise with a noise machine or wear a hearing aid as improved hearing may help a person reduce their perception of tinnitus,' said Dr O'Neill. The Lenire device works by combining audio stimulation and mild electrical stimulation to the surface of the tongue. This is done in order to reduce the brain's perception of tinnitus, sometimes described as 'ringing in the ears'. This technique, which is known as bimodal neuromodulation, involves the simultaneous stimulation of two nerves for therapeutic purposes. Lenire plays audio tones to the patient via headphones while delivering mild energy pulses to the surface of the tongue to treat tinnitus. Meanwhile, the results of the US trial, said Dr O'Neill, demonstrate that Lenire can be an effective treatment for 'real world' patients that have tinnitus. The Lenire device is available in five Irish clinics, based in Dublin, Cork and Kildare, and treatment costs between €3,400 - €3,800 depending on the clinic. A spokesperson for Neuromod Devices, the Dublin-based company behind the device, said that the price includes a tinnitus assessment, fitting of the device and multiple check-ups throughout treatment. 'Audiology appointment costs can be subsidised depending on the insurance plan,' he said, adding 'Lenire is not yet covered by insurance.' Under the care of an audiologist, patients typically use Lenire at home for two 30-minute sessions daily for an average of 12 weeks.
