Tinni Providing Hope for a Quieter Future ThroughT Education,us Advocacy, and ResearchToday Toward a Cure Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2017 ATA’s New Podcast Series First Aid Tools & Information A publication of the Visit & Learn More About Tinnitus Online at ATA.org ATA thrives through the dedication of a vast number of people, all of whom make a difference. Join the Jack Vernon Legacy Society Jack Vernon founded ATA in 1971 to lead the way in researching a cure, developing effective treatments, and creating broad-based support and awareness of tinnitus. ATA invites individuals and organizations to join our journey. How can you contribute? Monthly or annual financial Gifts of stock contributions Gifts of real estate Name ATA in your trust or estate Deferred gift annuities Ask ATA to create a Tribute Page in Donations to ATA in lieu of flowers in memory of a loved one memory of a loved one Convert stock and/or real estate into a unitrust We hope you’ll be a part of the legacy of securing silence for sufferers through a variety of cures, as well as finding treatments and sustained support for the millions who endure incessant noise and anxiety. For more information about adding ATA as a beneficiary or ways to reduce your taxes through charitable contributions, please contact Torryn Brazell, ATA’s Executive Director, via email at: [email protected]. Table of Contents EDITOR From the Editor ..................................................2 John A. Coverstone, AuD Sentient Healthcare, Inc. From the Board Chair .........................................3 CONSULTING EDITOR AND WRITER Joy Onozuka, MA From the Publisher ............................................4 American Tinnitus Association Letters to the Editor ...........................................5 COPY EDITOR Margaret L. Brown An Emergency Left Behind ................................6 MLB Communications Tinnitus by the Numbers ...................................8 PUBLISHER Torryn P. Brazell, MS, CAE The Sudden Loss of Silence ........................... 10 American Tinnitus Association 6 EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL An Optimized Tool for Tinnitus Research ......... 12 James W. Hall III, PhD University of Hawaii, Manoa ATA Support Network Calendar ...................... 13 Salus University & University of Pretoria Quieting Our Neighborhoods .......................... James A. Henry, PhD 14 National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research (NCRAR) Tinnitus You Will Want to Hear ........................ 16 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Poetic Reflection: About My Tinnitus .............. 17 Stephen M. Nagler, MD, FACS Atlanta Tinnitus Consultants, LLC An Objective Measure of Misophonia ............ 19 Gail M. Whitelaw, PhD Conversations in Tinnitus Department of Speech and Hearing Science 10 The Ohio State University with Dr. David Baguley ................................... 20 DIGITAL DESIGN & PRODUCTION TEAM Synaptopathy—A Cause of JML Design, LLC Potomac, MD Hidden Hearing Loss ...................................... 22 ADVERTISING Living With Tinnitus: Tinnitus Today is the official publication of the American Tinnitus Association. It Sudden Onset Hearing Loss ........................... 24 is published three times per year in April, August, and December and is mailed to Tinnitus Guidance for GPs .............................. 28 members and donors. To advertise, contact us at: [email protected] Demyelination—Another Cause HEADQUARTERS of Hidden Hearing Loss .................................. 30 522 SW. 5th St., Ste. 825 Portland, OR 97204 USA Why Do Some Professionals Hesitate to 14 Provide Tinnitus Care? .................................... 31 EDITORIAL OFFICE American Tinnitus Association P.O. Box 5, Portland, OR 97207 Special Donors & Tributes ............................... 32 +1-503-248-9985 800-634-8978 Treating Patients with Severe Tinnitus ............ 36 [email protected] www.ata.org ATA Funded Research: The American Tinnitus Association is a Including the Patient Perspective ................... 38 non-profit human health and welfare agency under 26 USC 501(c)(3). Don’t Make the Journey Alone ....................... 39 ADVERTISEMENT Publication of any advertisement 15 Things You Might Want to does not in any way or manner constitute or imply ATA’s approval or endorsement of any advertised Know About Somatosounds ........................... 40 product or service. 24 FROM THE EDITOR Change is in the Air One of the most frequent phrases heard by We are also extending Tinnitus Today by add- ATA staff is, “when will they find a cure???” It ing an ATA podcast series on tinnitus, hosted by is usually spoken with all three question marks, myself and my close friend and colleague, denoting both anticipation and some degree of Dr. Dean Flyger. The first episode was an exasperation. The mission of the American Tin- exciting conversation with Dr. David Baguley, nitus Association reflects our members’ hopeful researcher, clinician, and current President of support. Nothing is more prominent on the the British Tinnitus Association. More podcasts website than the Research Toward a Cure Road will be available every other month and may be Map. The ATA’s mission statement specifically accessed via the ATA website at www.ata.org. includes research, education, advocacy, and You can read more about the podcast series collaboration. This is not only to find a cure, but later in this issue. also to ensure that we have all the necessary I realize that some of our readers do not John A. Coverstone, AuD Editor components to support the search for a cure. use the internet and some others may be a bit Tinnitus Today Magazine In the meantime, ATA and its members exist to daunted by accessing a podcast. However, this help us all live with tinnitus until a cure is found. is essentially a radio program delivered online. We are currently in one of the most exciting If you have a relative or friend who can help periods of tinnitus care ever. We have more you download or subscribe to the podcast, or tools and more knowledge to assist in man- can possibly bring it to you, I think you will be aging tinnitus than ever before. Even more glad you did. There is nothing quite like listening exciting is the current research in tinnitus and to people talking about a subject. It becomes tinnitus-related disorders. The British Tinnitus much more personal and relatable. Association recently published the first edition One of the most important functions of of their Annual Tinnitus Research Review, edited Tinnitus Today is to communicate. ATA has a by Dr. David Baguley and Nic Wray. In this publi- long-standing history of bi-directional commu- cation, Dr. Baguley cites the increasing number nication through its magazine. Not only do we of research publications in recent years: twice prepare articles of interest to our readers, but as many in 2015 as in 2006 and four times as our readers participate strongly in the creation of many articles as in 1995. While we can’t project content for this magazine. I truly hope you will a date for a cure simply from increased publica- share your experiences and thoughts with us as tions or even comment about the quality of the well. If you have a story to tell or have questions research being conducted, this area has undeni- about tinnitus, tinnitus resources, or about any ably experienced increased interest and funding of our stories, I hope you will contact me at: in recent years. [email protected]. With all this in mind, Tinnitus Today will Be well and thank you for reading Tinnitus continue to bring you the latest research news Today. I can’t wait to hear from you. and helpful strategies for living with tinnitus. In becoming editor, it is my goal to ensure that Sincerely, the information in Tinnitus Today is the highest possible quality, is meaningful to all our read- ers, and is free from bias or influence from any outside sources. The importance of this is par- amount, as ATA must be a reliable and trusted resource for everyone living with and caring for those with tinnitus and related conditions. 2 TINNITUS TODAY SPRING 2017 FROM THE BOARD CHAIR A Life Without Tinnitus Can you remember what your life was like applied the lessons he learned in coping with before tinnitus? For those of us who remem- extreme suffering in a Nazi concentration camp ber the occasion when our ears first began to to a person’s experience in general. Each of our ring (or hiss, or shriek or whistle, or whatever lives has meaning, he said. It is up to each of us wretched sound most applies in your case), we to discover that meaning even while suffering. suspect we know the cause—and rue that day You can discover this meaning in life in three like no other. “If only I had used earplugs when different ways, wrote Dr. Frankl: (1) by creating I started up that chainsaw,” we might say. “If a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing only I hadn’t been stopped at that intersection something or encountering someone; and (3) when that car rear-ended me, and along with by the attitude we take in unavoidable suffering. the whiplash came tinnitus.” If we don’t know All these expressions of meaning look to the the cause of our tinnitus, we moan, “What did I present and the future, not the past of “if only Scott C. Mitchell, JD ever do to deserve this? My life before tinnitus this had not happened that caused my tinnitus.” Chair was good and now tinnitus makes me so miser- In the present, you can examine your situation ATA Board of Directors able. If only I had my own life back!” without the weight of all accumulated negative This “if only” thinking can drive you nuts. It emotions. Looking to the future, you can accept has the effect of directing your thoughts into the the challenge of insisting that your life still has past, with all the might-have-beens and should- meaning, no matter the suffering you happen to have-dones that could have avoided tinnitus. So be experiencing now. Just what that meaning is, along with the undeniable physical suffering that of course, is a discovery that is up to you.