THE AMERICAN TINNITUS ASSOCIATION

E 5, NO. 1' JAN. 1980

ATA MILESTONES-----------------.-.
1971 ... . ATA IS BORN ... . Thanks to Dr. Charles Unice of Downey, California ...
In its first year ATA is nursed along by about 25 members ....
1973 .... ATA MOVES TO OREGON ... . Growth is -spurred-by meeting
of Dr. Unice and Dr. Jack Vernon, Director, Kresge
Hearing Research Laboratory of the University of
Oregon Medical School .... The Med School agrees to
sponsor ATA as a non-profit organization based in
Oregon .... ATA now numbers about 50 loyal souls ....
1974 .... ATA GOES TO BAT NATION-WIDE .. .. Acquires its first National Chairman,
Mr. Robert Hocks of Hocks Laboratory, Portland, Oregon .... The ATA
membership starts to climb into 3-digit numbers ....
1976 .... ATA GATHERS MOMENTUM .. .. Expert administrative assistance
arrives in the person of Mrs. Gloria Reich .... Under her
guiding hand, membership grows to 10,000 in next 3 years ..
.. Educational Workshop program initiated
... . Information for professionals inter-
ested in evaluation and management of the
tinnitus patient .... Development of masking
techniques for relief of tinnitus.
--
-
1979 .... "AT A lAKES OFF ON BrGGEST CHALLENGE SO FAR ... . Dec?:aes to "go it alone" ....
Becomes legally incorporated as separate non-profit organization,no longer
under guardianship of the Health Sciences Center of the University of
Oregon .... This step was made possible by support from many of the 33,450
members. Excellent news coverage during 1978 and 1979 (PARADE magazine;
NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE; many others) increased membership dramatically.
1980 .... ATA STARTS INTO THE 'SO's ... . With CHEERS ... . for all its helpers, far and
wide .... With SATISFACTION ... . for having come so far so fast .... With HIGH
HOPES .. . . For an answer to the problem of tinnitus .... for even greater
strides in tinnitus research .... for relief for all tinnitus sufferers
in the years ahead.
IF ALL KEEP ON RUNNING .... 11AYRE IIE'LL WIN THIS '
ONE WOMAN'S TRIUMPH
OVER TINNITUS
by Nancy Bethe, Wisconsin
Mrs. Bethe's story came with hoZiday greetings
and the happy comment, "My how time flies when
you're enjoying life!"
"I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do for
you. You must just learn to live with it." This
is what the millions of tinnitus sufferers in the
world have heard over and over. Most cancer
patients have been given more encouragement than
the average tinnitus patient.
My experience with tinnitus began ten years
ago at the age of 19. One night when retiring 1
noticed a high pitched ringing in my ears. For
some time thereafter I thought nothing of it as I
only noticed it when I was in very quiet sur-
roundings. After a few months had passed and the
ringing remained I made an appointment with an
Ear, and Throat specialist. After exami-
nation he reported that he could find no cause
for the ringing but admitted that they knew very
little-a-bout- this sort of th1ng and !would just
have to live with it. I wasn't upset about it at
the time as the ringing was just barely audible.
A few years later I began to realize that my
ringing (by this time I at least kn'11 the correct
word was tinnitus) was getting worse; enough so
that it became increasingly irritating to me. I
found it hard to get to sleep at night or to
concentrate in quiet atmospheres. This was the
beginning of a two year period of time that can
only be recollected as a nightmare. Doctor after
doctor- clinic after clinic. By this time I had
done a good deal of reading on the subject of
tinnitus and it was becoming increasingly obvious
that most doctors and ENT clinics would rather
have not even dealt with the problem. Most of
the exams I received consisted of visual obser-
vations of the outer ear canal and perhaps an
audiogram at the most. r went to the top spec-
ialists in my area and they neglected even the
most obvious questions i.e. do you take aspirin
in large doses, caffeine, have any blood pres-
sure problem?
It was at this point that I realized that
the only help I was going to get was from myself.
I spent hours reading books on the ears and dis-
orders of the ear . I went heavily into nutrition
which did help me to some degree. I began
receiving allergy injections. I found that by
sleeping with a cool mist humidifier in my room
it produced a no1se that would cover up the
tinnitus and for some odd reason then I could
sleep. At one point I wrote a letter to a doctor
who had written a book on ear, nose and throat
problems and he sent me back a small brochure
from the American Tinnitus Association. The day
of my deliverance had arrived even though I
didn't realize it at the time.
I wrote ATA a letter asking for any infor-
mation they might have on my problem. Shortly
thereafter I received a personal letter from Jack
Vernon along with printed articles on tinnitus
and on the new maskers. Jack Vernon and I cor-
responded for well over a year in which time he
directed me on what testing I should have to
determine if I would be a likely candidate for
the maskers. He warned me that they do not work
for everyone but that my situation sounded
hopeful.
A year ago this December (in 1978) I went
for testing to determine the type of maskers I
would need. It was a very tedious process and
nerve to say the least. However, when
it was over I was on cloud nine. Salvation at
Last! When my maskers arrived I went for the
proper fitting and was told to try them for a
month. If they did not do the job for me I would
of course not be obligated to purchase them.
The first v1eek with my maskers was a night-
mare. I fully expected to just put them on and
take to them like a duck to water. My hopes were
shattered. I v1asn' t used to this type of noise
in my ears. At this point I went through every
type of human emotion possible. I was enraged,
depressed and most of all I felt that I had lost
all hope. There was nothing else for me to do.
After a week of not even wearing them the
thought occurred to me that perhaps I had ex-
pected too much. After all, there is a period of
adjustment for everything from glasses to arti-
ficial limbs. I began over with just one masker
at a ttme and wearing ft tor only a short period
of time. At the end of the week I wore both
maskers for a short period of time and gradually
lengthened the time span I would wear them. The
transition was complete. I had found my miracle
that all the doctors told me did not exist. Now
I find that I need my maskers less and less all
the time. There are times when my tinnitus
disappears after having been constant for nearly
eight years.
There are no words that could express the
gratitude I feel towards the American Tinnitus
Association and that wonderful man Jack Vernon
who was my inspiration for so long and the only
source of hope I had for so long.
If I had one thought to share with all the
tinnitus sufferers in this world it would be to
never give up hope. Read and learn everything
you can about your problem and use that knowledge
to your advantage.
As many of you may have surmised, our
mailing list has been changed over to a
computer
computer
computer
computer
which sometimes
spews out duplications, triplications, and even
quadruplications. We are doing our best to
correct this situation and ask that those readers
who are receiving more than one copy of the
Newsletter to please let us know. Be sure to
include your old and new zip code with any
corrections you may send.
NEW CONCEPTS
IN TINNITUS MASKER
ENGINEERING
by David Preves, Viae President/Engineering
Starkey Laboratories, Ina.
Many people exhibiting the symptoms of
tinnitus have normal or near normal hearing.
Their tinnitus is often identified as a narrow
band of frequencies or a single frequency in
the audio spectrum. To this date, most tin-
nitus maskers that are head worn provide a
relatively wide frequency band of masking noise
because of size limitations of the circuitry
that may be employed. On-going research and
development has as a goal the use of more
sophisticated filters in order to restrict the
tinnitus masker noise spectrum to the fre-
quency range of the tinnitus. The earmold,
and its associated tubing or 'plumbing system',
may be used to further shift the frequency of
the noise and to narrow it. 1 t is des i rab 1 e
to have the noise as narrow as possible be-
cause this will permit normal functions such
as in conversational situations, without the
tinnitus masker disrupting the conversation.
Placing the narrow band of noise in rela-
tively high frequencies such as 8,000, 10,000,
and 12 ,000 Hertz is quite a cha 11 enge in a
small hearing-aid size housing because the
wiring must be routed inside of the masker in
a very exact manner. For example, we have
found that once the noise band is centered at
8,000 Hertz, it may move up and down in fre-
quency by 3,000 or 4,000 Hertz by simply
shifting the relative position of two wires!
This on-going work is definitely a chal-
lenge to our state-of-the-art technology. By
using the same techniques, the results obtained
from this work will also improve hearing aid
design. The rewards of seeing the effects of the
tinnitus masker on a tinnitus suffering patient
make the challenge extremely
SLEEP-A-TONE
by HaZ Fishbein, M.A., President, National
Hearing Aid Centers, Inc., Boston,
A product by the Sol atron Company of
York has been introduced for those who have
trouble sleeping because of outside noises
While not originally
designed to assist people suffering from tinnitus
it has been found to have a beneficial effect of
masking this problem thus assisting people at
sleep. It comes equipped with a pillow speaker
and volume control so as to avoid disturbing
one's sleeping partner.
The product has been researched and approved
by the American Tinnitus Association. Sleep-A-
Tone is available through hearing aid dispensers
who may write to the author or to ATA for
distribution information.
PLEASE, HELP US TO HELP YOU . . . . . . .
We need some foZlowup information from those persons who have received referral lists from ATA during
the past several months. If you have reaeived one of these lists of persons in your area who have
had training in tinnitus evaluation and management, will you please take a few minutes to fiZZ out
the questionnaire which foltows and send it to ATA, Post Office Box 5, Portland, OR 97207. Thank you.
1) Did you receive a referral list (peopl e to consult about your tinnitus)?
yes __
no
2) Did you contact someone on that list about your tinnitus? yes __
no
3) To the best of your knowledge \'las the person you contacted actively working
yes __
no
with tinnitus patients?
4) Were you tested to determine the pitch and loudness of your tinnitus?
yes __
no
5) Has any type of treatment recommended for your tinnitus? yes __
no
6) If so, which treatment was recommended? (you may check more than one)
Maskers Hearing Aids ___ _ Tinnitus Instruments (combination masker-aid)
Biofeedback ___ _ Drugs ___ _ Other _______ _
7) Did you actually obtain and utilize any of the recommended treatments? If so, list below.
Treatment ------------- Length of time used -----------
8) How would you rate the results of the treatment you obtained? (check one)
Totally relieved ___ _ ;Jo Change ___ _
Some Improvement ___ _ Tinnitus is 110rse ___ _
9) Space for additional comments.
TELL ME DOCTOR . ..
This new feature wiZZ be a reguZar part of the
Newsletter. In this issue Jaok Vernon, Ph.D.,
Director of the Kresge Hearing Researoh Labora-
tory give answers to some frequently asked
questions gleaned from letters in our mailbag.
Q. \lhat causes tinnitus?
A. Almost everythi ng that damages the ear also
causes tinnitus. Some very frequent causes are
exposure to excessively loud sounds such as rock-
n- ro 11 music, guns hot, chain saws, poi"Jer too 1 s,
lawn etc., etc. Also exposure to certain
antibiotics; the class is known as aminoglycosides.
Ear infections, flu and viral diseases, fever and
head trauma can also cause t innitus.
Q. If the ear is damaged and hearing is lost can
it heal itself and recover heari ng?
A. If the damage is s li ght the hearing loss
might be temporary. But if the loss is severe
then it is p-e'fmanerrt. ---
Q. Does ri nging in the ears mean 1 am becoming
deaf?
!'1.
Q. Will the ringing get worse with time?
Do not take aspirin (actually sodium salicylate).
Refrain from using n1cotine, caffeine and exces-
sive amounts of alcohol. Carry a set of ear-
plugs and wear them whenever you are exposed to
noise. You can use your fingers as earplugs in
an emergency.
Q. Is tinnitus a psychological or psychosomatic
disorder?
A. No, I don't thi nk so. Tinnitus can produce a
great deal of stress but it is caused by a real
physiological or neurological disorder. It is
not a matter of imagination.
Q. would masking provide relief of tinnitus,
isn't that just another sound?
A. The empirical fact is that masking does work
and about 4,000 patients are currently wearing
maskers. I do not know how it works but I do
have some guesses. First of all the masking
sounds can be ignored whereas it is difficult to
ignore t inni tus or interncrr sounds.- The tinnitus
is usually a high pitched screeching tone whereas
masking is a broader band of noise and the latter
is esthetically more acceptable. Also the masker
gives the patient some element of control. The
major requirement for successful masking is that
it not be too loud.
A. In most cases the tinnitus will not get worse
if you observe certain precautions. First and
foremost do not expose your ears to loud sounds .

j=t ANNUAL COOTRIBUTION N'E$ RICAN TINNITUS ASSOCIATI<l'l '
Regular Member> 10 or more
Sustaining Member $ 25 or more
Professional Member $ 100 or more
Benefactor $ 500 or more
YOUR GIFT IS TAX DEDOCTIBLE
[X) you knav someone elso who has tinnitus and would like to receive the ATA Newsletter?
Name -------------------------
Address ----------------------------
Cit
Published by the
At"ERICAN TINNITUS
A private non-profit corporation
under the laws of Oregon
Robert W. Hocks ... National Chairman
Gloria E. Reich .. Executive Director
IU:OICAt ADVISORY BOARD
BOB R. AlFORD, H. 0.
tlous ton, Texas
R08ER1 SANDLIN, Ph.O.
Sa, Of ego, Cl i (ornia
ROGER BOlES. M.D. IIARDLO C. TABB, H.O.
San f'ranc.isco, Califor-nia Hew Orleai\S, Louisiana
HOIIMO P, MOUSE, M.D. ADVISORY BOARD
Los Angeles, California
HONORABLE DEl ClAWSON
ROBERT H. JOHNSON, Ph.O. United St.&tes
Portland, Oregon Rouse of Representatives
to.I:RlE LAWRENCE, Ph.D. DAVID 0. Oe\IEESE. H.O.
Ann Arbor, t\ichfgan Portland, Ortgon
JERRY NORTHERN, Ph.D. HONORABlE I<ARK HATFIELD
Denver , Coloro1do United Sutes
GUNNAR 0. PROUD, 1< . 0. ROBERT II. HOCKS
Kansas City. Kansas Portland. Oreg'On
CEORCE F. REED H. 0. CHARLES UN ICE, H. 0.
Hew York Downey. Ca I I fornia
State __ Zip
The American Tinnitus Association
Post Office Box 5
Portland, Oregon 97207
(503) 248-9985
Non-Profit Organ.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 1792
Portland, Oregon