Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026
Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Customized Versus Noncustomized Sound Therapy for Treatment of Tinnitus: A Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial
Hossein Mahboubi1, Yarah M Haidar1, Saman Kiumehr1
11 Division of Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Objectives:
To determine the effectiveness of a customized sound therapy and compare its effectiveness to that of masking with broadband noise.
Methods:
Subjects were randomized to receive either customized sound therapy or broadband noise for 2 hours per day for 3 months and then switched to the other treatment after a washout period. The outcome variables were tinnitus loudness (scored 0-10), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), minimum masking levels (MML), and residual inhibition (RI).
Results:
Eighteen subjects completed the study. Mean age was 53 ± 11 years, and mean tinnitus duration was 118 ± 99 months. With customized sound therapy, mean loudness decreased from 6.4 ± 2.0 to 4.9 ± 1.9 ( P = .001), mean THI decreased from 42.8 ± 21.6 to 31.5 ± 20.3 ( P < .001), mean BAI decreased from 10.6 ± 10.9 to 8.3 ± 9.9 ( P = .01), and MML decreased from 22.3 ± 11.6 dB SL to 17.2 ± 10.6 dB SL ( P = .005). After 3 months of broadband noise therapy, only BAI and, to a lesser degree, MML decreased ( P = .003 and .04, respectively).
Conclusions:
Customized sound therapy can decrease the loudness and THI scores of tinnitus patients, and the results may be superior to broadband noise.
