Key points from today’s guests:
Steve Stites, M.D., chief medical officer, The University of Kansas Health System
- Tinnitus is a frustrating, sometimes debilitating condition that affects millions of Americans and currently has no cure.
- It's often described as a ringing in your ears.
- But the ring doesn't come from your ears. It actually comes from your brain.
Lauren Mann, Au.D., Ph.D., neuroaudiologist; clinical director, Neuroaudiology, The University of Kansas Health System
- Tinnitus is caused by noise exposure, but it can also be caused by certain disease processes, medication or head injuries.
- For one in 10 people it's extremely common. But tinnitus is not the same thing as hearing loss.
- Hearing loss itself doesn't cause tinnitus, but it can be a symptom of hearing loss. Only about 20-25 percent of patients seek treatment.
- There are many options to treat tinnitus
- There is a new treatment device called Lenire – the first FDA-approved bimodal tinnitus therapy device.
- As one of the first 50 doctors in the United States to provide that therapy, we have electric stimulation in the mouth, specifically targeting the tongue to activate a different cranial nerve system.
- Lenire is basically trying to retrain the brain to not pay attention to that tinnitus signal by stimulating the tongue and stimulating the auditory system.
- We see results in as little as 12 weeks, but it can be up to 12 months.
Hinrich Staecker, M.D., Ph.D., hearing and balance surgeon; division director, Otology & Neurotology, The University of Kansas Health System
- Otology is a separate specialty that deals with the medical and surgical treatment of hearing and balance disorders.
- We treat patients with very severe hearing losses, as well as things like sudden vertigo episodes and tinnitus as well. Patients need an initial evaluation to put them in the correct grouping for an inner ear problem or whether it's the more intractable kind of tinnitus that Dr. Mann is treating.
- The most important thing is providing access to treatment
- Hearing protection is the number one priority if the sound is a lawn mower sound or louder. Use your devices on your watch or phone to check decibel meters.
- If you have a ringing in your ear or if you're over 50, get your hearing tested.
Drew Cohn, living with tinnitus
- Drew grew up in loud environments and became a civil engineer, where he continued to work in loud areas.
- Experiencing tinnitus, he came from Memphis to see Dr. Mann at The University of Kansas Health System after seeing an article about this new treatment.
- Has only been on the treatment for about two months, but has noticed an improvement with two 30-minute sessions per day.
- He is sleeping better now versus being up half the night.
Doc Hawk
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- A recent Washington Post article covered the potential for COVID over the summer and whether anyone cares anymore.
- COVID can still impacts certain groups of people, but we do have ways to help protect them.
- New variants have not caused any new issues.
- A second human case of bird flu has been detected in a person who worked closely with farm animals. Human health risk remains low.
Thursday, May 30 at 8 a.m. is the next All Things Heart. You’ll meet a man whose surgery sparked a career path that would ultimately lead him to specialize in that very surgery, where he now performs it on patients at the University of Kansas Health System.
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