When Peter Atkinson first heard a faint ringing in his ears one Monday morning at work, he thought it was nothing to worry about.
But the noise refused to go away – and soon the 62-year-old business owner was barely sleeping.
Despite how much it was affecting him, doctors dismissed his concerns, saying his scans were clear and that he’d simply have to live with the ringing in his ears.
It was, they told him, ‘just tinnitus’. And he’s far from alone. Around 1.5 million people in the UK suffer with severe tinnitus that disrupts their daily lives. As well as ringing, they may hear buzzing, hissing, whistling, humming or even distant voices – sounds that can rise and fall in pitch, come and go, or drone on continuously.
For Peter, the noise in his right ear grew worse, triggering anxiety and depression.
‘I was on a downward spiral,’ he says. ‘I was in a bad place, having some really dark thoughts that scared me. I knew I had to look for help.’
That was when he discovered OTO, a phone app designed for tinnitus sufferers. He joined a University of Cambridge trial comparing the app with traditional therapy, with results expected in the coming weeks.
Now, Peter, from Barnsley, has learned to manage his condition thanks to OTO’s personalised guided help plan.
Peter Atkinson, from Barnsley, has learned to manage his condition thanks to OTO’s personalised guided help plan
‘The app has given me a way of coping with my condition,’ he says. ‘I can better operate on a day-to-day basis now without the tinnitus taking over.’
Experts say the revolutionary app that helped Peter could soon be rolled out on the NHS to support the one in seven adults in the UK – almost 8 million people – who experience some form of tinnitus.
‘The aim following the trial is that all patients are able to access OTO free at the point of use,’ says Dr Edmund Farr, the company’s founder. ‘Tinnitus treatment is very difficult to access for patients, and our app can help solve that.’
It works by creating a personalised self-help plan based on users’ survey responses. From there, they commit just ten minutes a day to guided audio sessions – meditation, breathing techniques, sound calibration or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – designed to shift the brain’s reaction to the noise so that it becomes less noticeable over time.
The company says 90 per cent of users report a reduction in symptoms over a three-month course.
Last year, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust announced it would begin referring tinnitus patients to OTO, which they could use for free.
However, anyone can download the app, at a cost of £36 a month.
Experts say the technology could help relieve pressure on face-to-face CBT services, where long waits often prevent people from receiving timely treatment.
Research from Leeds Trinity University found that only 8 per cent of people who visit their GP suffering from tinnitus are referred for CBT.
‘There is a real problem in the NHS with patients who see their GP being referred on to psychological services,’ says Dr James Jackson, a psychologist and tinnitus researcher at the university, who has helped develop a similar app called MindEar.
‘We have a postcode lottery in access to care, but utilising accredited smartphone apps that provide an introduction to therapy could help patients, particularly while they are waiting for appointments with a specialist.
‘Tinnitus is, for many, a condition that comes and goes throughout the day, so having an option for instant relief that is able to calm anxiety when you are woken up at 3am is incredibly important – and until now, not something that we had available.’
Dr Jackson says that the gold standard for tinnitus treatment is CBT delivered by a tinnitus or audiology specialist – but he estimates that there are only a handful across the country trained to provide this.
An app, he says, can help bridge the gap in education and self-help resources, with many audiologists already recommending OTO to their patients.
‘While there is no replacement for face-to-face therapy, this is a really exciting and useful tool for patients,’ says Sue Falkingham, a Yorkshire-based audiologist.
‘It can be difficult to find CBT designed specifically for tinnitus patients, but this app does that.’
She adds: ‘When patients are dismissed by their GP – which they so often are – they go hunting online for cures that don’t exist. What this does is collate accredited advice in one place.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .