Understanding how the brain interprets sounds can help address ear ringing
Tinnitus can be managed by reshaping the brain’s default mode, says UCI Health expert
IN THE NEWS: There’s no cure for tinnitus, a condition that causes ringing, buzzing or hissing sound in the ears, but several therapeutic techniques can make it manageable.
Dr. Hamid Djalilian, a board-certified otolaryngologist at UCI Health recently explained in Psychology Today that understanding how the brain processes thoughts and sounds can help manage tinnitus.
“Patients with relatively quiet tinnitus by objective measures are profoundly disabled by it, while patients with loud tinnitus have found a way to live well. The audiogram doesn't predict distress. What predicts distress is, in part, how much of the self has reorganized around the sound.”
Djalilian recommends mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as therapeutic approaches that can intervene in how the brain processes and organizes sounds. They are not treating the ear; they are treating how the brain interprets the sounds.
Djalilian is a board-certified and fellowship trained in otology, neurotology and skull base surgery at UCI Health. His areas of expertise include complex ear surgery, hearing loss, balance disorders, facial nerve paralysis and skull base surgery. As a professor of otolaryngology at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, Djalilian’s research is related to cochlear implants, acoustic neuroma and chronic ear disease. He has developed several innovative devices for the treatment of hearing loss, imbalance and tinnitus.
To make an appointment with UCI Health Hearing and Ear Disorder Services call 714-456-7017.
Read Ear ringing and the residual self in Psychology Today.
About UCI Health
UCI Health is one of California’s largest academic health systems and the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. Established on July 1, 1976, UCI Health has grown into a 1,461-bed health system that includes UCI Health — Orange, UCI Health — Irvine, its newest facility, UCI Health — Irvine Rehabilitation Hospital, four Community Network hospitals and a growing network of ambulatory care centers across Orange and Los Angeles counties. As Orange County’s only academic health systems, UCI Health is home to the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in the county, the region’s only American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, American College of Emergency Physicians Gold Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department and a nationally recognized regional burn center verified by the American Burn Association. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people across Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County through excellence in patient care, research and medical education. Follow UCI Health on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.