We are often asked about the various devices and therapies available for tinnitus.  Below we have attempted to list some that we have had positive feedback about or have experience of ourselves.  We are always keen to receive comments, favourable or otherwise, about devices or treatments that people have tried.  Other information is available in our Suppliers leaflet.

For travellers concerned about the effect of noise and pressure changes flying on their tinnitus, 'Earplanes', 'Flite-mates' and others, are special types of ear plugs that may help.  The principle is that a small valve reduces the speed of the pressure change during take-off and landings, helping prevent 'ear popping' and ear ache (replacing, and hopefully more effective than, the old-fashioned boiled-sweets that airlines used to hand out). They do also reduce the noise level during flight, whilst still allowing you to hear safety announcements. Because of the filters the Earplanes use, they only last for a couple of flights (i.e. there and back), however, they are relatively inexpensive at around £6 from high-street chemists and off the internet. Flite-mates, at a similar price, are advertised as reusable and another cheaper own-brand, also reusable, alternative is available from Boots the chemists, at about £4.50.  The Flite-mate are not suitable for children under 12 whilst the Earplanes and Boots versions come in two models, one for children, one for adults.

These ear plugs may also be useful to rail travellers, people driving into mountainous areas or anywhere that sudden pressure changes may occur. They are not suitable for underwater use.

These devices are intended to provide background sound (if you live in a noisy area it may be easier and a lot cheaper just to open the window).  They come in various sizes and price bands.  Generally they will have five or six different sounds, such as wind, rain, streams, bird song etc.  Whilst reasonably random, some sounds can be annoying because of their frequent repetition (beware the cuckoo coming around every 5 minutes) and some have low quality reproduction (try before you buy if possible).  The smaller travel clock style can be useful on holidays but as they are battery powered they will not last more than a few hours and they are not powerful enough to use with a pillow speaker.  The larger versions are generally louder as they have bigger speakers, some don't have earphone sockets so cannot be used with a pillow speaker.  The way to use these devices is to leave them on during the day and not to switch them on only when tinnitus is raging - which will simply reinforce the tinnitus behavioural loop.  Using these devices as background fill-in noise on a regular basis means that the mains powered ones are cheaper to run than the battery powered ones, although some of the battery powered units will accept a low voltage input from an adapter (which may have to be purchased separately, adding to the cost).  A free alternative is to open windows or doors and listen to the outside noise, assuming it is relatively pleasant!  Another option is to buy a CD with sounds on that you like.  Many music shops now stock such recordings as 'sounds of the rain forest. etc.  and we provide free CDs of White noise (not suitable for all) as well as Pink noise (which sounds a bit like the wind) and other sounds.

These devices can be very useful if you have trouble getting to sleep because of tinnitus.  They are simply a small speaker in a hard plastic case, which goes under your pillow and plugs into a CD player or radio's earphone socket and enables you to play your favourite relaxation CD or music from a CD player, MP3 player or other sound source without disturbing the rest of the household.  Obviously to use these devices you need to have a radio, cassette or cd player close to the bedside, the pillow speaker cable is usually only about a metre long.  They come in various prices, about £10 or so, and are available from high street shops such as Maplins and off the internet.  Some have a volume switch on the side of the case, with others you have to use the volume control on the player.  They can also be obtained built into pillows but these are more expensive and less flexible as the speaker cannot be moved around inside the pillow to suit you and they are also rather large to take on holiday!  There are some systems on the market which provide speakers in a pillow with a sound generator to go with it, but these are in a much higher price bracket.

An additional consideration is that these speakers will be less suitable if you use a hearing aid as you might need to keep the hearing aid in overnight to hear the speaker and obviously this is not ideal.  You do need to have or purchase a player or radio to go with this device, it is only a speaker, it will not produce it's own sound, and the sound source needs to have a 3.5mm socket (this is a standard earphone socket, most sound devices use these) and be within reach of the speaker cable, it also needs to turn itself off after a set time, unless you want it going all night (many radios and CD players have settings to turn off after set periods).  Tests we have done show that the small mp3 players (such as the Apple 'ipod' type) do not produce sufficient power to be heard through the speaker (which is a shame as we had been hoping to produce an all-in-one package of mp3 player pre-loaded with sounds and a speaker).  The Travel Alarm Clocks with soothing sounds that we have seen are also too weak to effectively power these speakers.

Generally, although everyone has their own preferences, you should listen to relaxing sounds rather than jazz or the news.

If you sleep alone, you may not need this, unless the neighbours complain about the noise.

Noise Meters

(These gadgets featured in the Spring 2006 edition of Quiet and there is a user review of the SoundCheck in the Autumn 2007 edition)

These may be useful in showing teenagers just how loud their music is and the damage they may be doing to their hearing or just for monitoring the noise around you.  There is a risk that they may see it as a target rather than a limit though!

'SoundCheck' is an inexpensive,keyring style, battery operated sound level indicator that helps to identify if the environment you are in is too loud. It indicates noise levels varying from safe to highly dangerous.  The red, amber and green LEDs simply show the noise level of your environment. The SoundCheck is a great simple way of gauging if you should be using ear protection. The device is for guidance purposes only and is not for use as a measuring instrument. It is very simple to use, just point the microphone opening at the noise source and read the result from the ‘traffic light’ indicators.  It costs £8.50 + VAT and is available from Connevans Ltd - telephone: 01737 247 571 or from their website at www.deafequipment.co.uk

Both devices are said to be accurate to within 3dB. The first action level is now 83dB, the level in the workplace at which an employer must advise of potential hearing danger. At 87dB (second action level) the employer must provide hearing protection and enforce use.

Relaxation/Sound therapy CDs

There are many of these on the market, available from most High Street music shops and the web.  There are a huge variety of sounds available, from bird song to wind chimes, including our own 'Sound of the Sea on Deal beach'.  Alternatively you may find music of some form better. An advantage over the sound devices is that CD players are often more portable and because they normally last for an hour, one avoids the 'repeating cuckoo' effect.  As with the Sound Generators, the objective is to avoid silence and so the CD should normally be on as background sound, turned up or down as appropriate.   Included in this group are non-music sounds such as white noise, pink noise and similar.  We provide free downloads of these (or a free CD if you cannot make your own) and we may be able to provide other similar sounds, on request.

The second, more expensive gadget, Pocket Ear, performs the same function as the SoundCheck but comes with a set of ear plugs especially for listening to music, that fit neatly inside it. Having set the level at which you want the device to warn you, it will activate at 5dB before the level is reached, allowing you time to pop in the ear plugs.  The 'Pocket Ear' with ear plugs inside, costs £46 +  VAT and is available from Noise Meters Ltd - telephone: 01262 470 584 or from their website at www.noisemeters.co.uk