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Ringing ears? This app could help

There really is an app for everything, it seems.

Tinnitracks is a new web-based app from German startup Sonormed, which its makers claim can treat tinnitus. Tinnitus is the medical term for what you and I know as “ringing ears”, and is caused by both old age and attending too many concerts or enduring any other sustained noises at excessive volume levels without using ear plugs.

Until now, it was something people just had to live with; in younger people it would go away on its own, but older folk haven’t been quite so lucky with the condition essentially becoming a part of their daily lives.

Engadget writes that new “neuroscientific studies” into tinnitus have revealed that it’s not actually caused by damaged ears; rather, it’s “a symptom of abnormal hyperactivity in the brain”.

And that’s something that can be treated, thanks to something called the brain’s “neuroplasticity”, or the quality that allows it to learn and adapt.

What Tinnitracks does is filter out the frequency that causes tinnitus – something that varies between people – by analysing your music tracks and applying the appropriate filter. Over time, the user’s brain adapts to the alterations in the sound, which in turn reduces the brain’s hyperactivity, effectively healing the tinnitus effect.

Of course, “over time” is the key point in that last sentence: Sonormed says people must listen to the prescribed tracks for one to two hours a day, for “at least six months” in order to benefit from the treatment.

The other catch, unfortunately for cash-strapped South Africans hoping to cure themselves of their ringing ears, is that a one-year subscription to the Tinnitracks service/app costs a whopping 539 Euros. That’s just over R7 000 at today’s exchange rate, which puts it out of reach for a lot of people.

Still, curing the condition could well be worth getting into debt for, so if you’re suffering from ringing ears and want to give it a go, head over to the official Tinnitracks website and give it a try.

[Source – Engadget]

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