Sound stimulation via bone conduction for tinnitus relief: a pilot study

For some patients suffering from tinnitus, an external sound stimulator can offer some mitigation. Based on our positive experience with the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA), it seems possible to transmit a masking or habituating sound via bone conduction. A potential advantage of bone-conducted sound is that it is transmitted to the cochlea without affecting the normal hearing via the external and middle ear. The present pilot study, on patients who use a conventional BAHA and who experience mild-to-moderate tinnitus, shows that bone-conducted sound has the potential to relieve tinnitus in the same way as air-conducted sound. It was also found that these patients, having a significant conduction hearing loss, required conventional sound amplification via a BAHA simultaneously with the stimulus provided by the bone-anchored sound stimulator (BASS). Further studies on patients with more severe tinnitus must be conducted in order to justify the use of a BASS for tinnitus relief.