TIPA TINNITUS TREATMENT
The TIPA sound signal has been developed by digital audio engineering to produce residual inhibition of tinnitus. The patient listens to the sound signal once or twice daily for 12 minutes using a digital player and fully enclosed high definition audio headphones.
Residual inhibition (RI) is the absence or reduction in loudness of tinnitus after a sound signal ceases. RI has been known since 1906 but despite extensive research in the 1970ís the duration of RI was short lived (30-60 seconds) and did not last long enough to be clinically useful as a treatment for tinnitus.
The discovery of TIPA was first published in 2008. The TIPA signal has been shown to induce prolonged RI and is unique in its ability to reduce tinnitus. This effect becomes more powerful with repeated use. Some patients have produced long term remission of tinnitus by using TIPA.
The TIPA sound signal was developed over a seven year period of trial and error testing starting in 2001 with tinnitus patient volunteers at Dr Peter Winklerís Macquarie Street Tinnitus Clinic in Sydney, Australia. The project was designed to find a sound signal that was effective in producing prolonged residual inhibition using digital sound synthesizers and audio engineering techniques.
The only way of assessing Residual Inhibition of tinnitus was by the subjective response of the patient and therefore the research was painstakingly slow. The eventual result was the TIPA sound signal comprising a series of very low frequency digitally synthesised sounds which play for a total of 12 minutes. This finding was first published in 2008 at the 9th International Tinnitus Seminars in Goteberg, Sweden.
Tinnitus causes stress and sleep disturbance. It is also known that stress and fatigue aggravate tinnitus and a patientís quality of life can enter a cycle of deterioration. Since TIPA can reduce the loudness of tinnitus prior to sleep, it can break this cycle of deterioration by producing better sleep quality.
Some patients have also been able to produce long term tinnitus reduction by using TIPA again before the tinnitus returns.
Inhibitory processes are widespread in the brain and inhibitory cells are present in the brainstem, cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus and other central auditory pathways. Failure of central inhibition may be a mechanism involved in the production of tinnitus and of hyperacusis. It is postulated that TIPA acts by stimulating inhibitory pathways.
Patients have used the 12 minute TIPA sound once each day for 6 weeks in a clinical trial. Around 50% of the patients have had clinical improvement with significant reduction in their Tinnitus Handicap Inventory scores. Detailed results are published on the "Clinical Trial 2014" page of this website.