New sound therapy offers hope to people with ringing and buzzing in their ears

A NEW sound therapy could help the millions of people in the UK who suffer from ringing in their ears.

- Press Association health reporter Storm Newton

Researchers are hopeful that the treatment for tinnitus, which leaves people with the perception of noises such as buzzing, humming, hissing or throbbing despite there being no outside sound, could one day be available as a smartphone app.

The therapy involves patients listening to modified sounds in a bid to disrupt patterns of activity in their brains and quieten the ringing.

The trial, led by Newcastle University and part-funded by RNID, the national charity for deaf people, included 77 people with tinnitus, which can be caused by hearing loss, certain medications or anxiety and depression.

Dr Will Sedley, consultant neurologist and researcher at Newcastle University, said: "At the moment, there aren't really very good treatments to get rid of the tinnitus sound, and it's all about helping people disengage and learn to live better with the symptom."

Researchers made small changes to synthetic musical notes for one group, while other patients were given placebo sounds to listen to, which had been modified to different frequencies.

The groups listened to sounds online for an hour a day for six weeks, before having a three-week break.

They then listened for another six weeks, with the sounds swapped, although patients were not aware which sound was the placebo and which was the modified musical note.