Progress on Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Seminar

Often described as a ringing or buzzing sound, tinnitus is the perception of a sound that has no external origin. A prevalent condition, individuals can suffer from a wide range of associated problems, including insomnia and concentration difficulties. Tinnitus is often comorbid with hyperacusis (decreased sound tolerance to ordinary environmental sounds), with more than 40% of adult patients with a primary complaint of tinnitus also experience hyperacusis. As yet there is no cure for either tinnitus or hyperacusis, therefore the reliance is on management. However, management of both tinnitus and hyperacusis can be complex, requiring an individualized and often multifaceted approaches to reduce symptoms. As part of our work at Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, we are aiming to untangle these complexities and build an evidence-base on the experiences with tinnitus and hyperacusis to aid management in clinical practice.

This seminar will provide an overview of this research and the experiences with tinnitus and hyperacusis including evidence on management approaches, measuring tinnitus and hyperacusis and what is happening in clinics, the development of clinical practice guidelines for tinnitus and the next steps for tinnitus and hyperacusis.