Tinnitus Notch Frequency Therapy
A cutting-edge approach to significantly reduce the tinnitus frequency and make the noise much more tolerable.
We will guide you through the entire process – 100% online and remote, no matter where in the world you are located.
Become a part of our many patients who discovered this new tinitus-treatment approach and obtained their quality of life back.
Find out if Notch Frequency Therapy is for you
Book Free Tinnitus Consult
How does it work?
Just like an alarm clock catches your attention to alert you of something important, tinnitus can be seen as your brain’s way of signaling that it perceives something dysfunctional in your body or your auditory system, whether that might be rooted in hearing loss, exposure to loud noises, stress, fatigue, poisoning, or other factors. In an attempt warn you or compensate for these changes, your brain sets off this ‘alarm’ – the ringing, buzzing, or humming sound you hear in tinnitus. When the alarm has been activated once for more than a few weeks, your body doesn’t necessarily know how to turn it off again, and the condition becomes chronic.
The Role of Notch Frequency Therapy
Now, how does Notch Frequency Therapy relate to this? The therapy is designed to interact directly with this alarm system. By listening to music that is carefully crafted to exclude the area around your specific tinnitus frequency, the therapy tricks your brain into believing there is a hearing impairment in that frequency range.
Adaptive Response: Lowering Tinnitus Frequency
In response to this perceived hearing impairment, the brain tends to make an adaptive shift: since it still wants you to hear this alarm tone, its natural response is lowering the frequency of your tinnitus. This intentional manipulation of perception is what makes Notch Frequency Therapy so effective. Notch Frequency Therapy is not to be confused with so called “masking”. Where “maskin” is purely psychological distraction, the Notch Frequency Therapy treatment creates measurable physical results.
Lower Frequency Better Life
Many people with tinnitus think the loudness of the ringing is what bothers them most. However, the more important aspect is the frequency of the tinnitus.
It’s in the lowering of the frequency that the most remarkable and lasting relief is experienced. Lower frequency sounds blend more harmoniously with the everyday auditory environment. Think of the difference between the sharp ring of a bell and the gentle thrum of rolling ocean waves. Even if they were equally loud, the latter is less noticeable and less irritating because its frequencies are more similar to all the noise around us.
When patients get the frequency of their tinnitus reduced, it doesn’t practically mean that the tone will feel darker or deeper. But when the frequency decreases, more room is created for hearing above the tinnitus tone. This “extra space” means that in practice, patients experience the tone receding into the background.
They transition from a state where they constantly hear the tone to now experiencing longer periods where they’ve completely forgotten they had tinnitus.
The lower the frequency falls, the easier it becomes for minimal mental activity or slight everyday background noises such as people conversing, distant traffic, or soft music in the background to mask the tinnitus tone. It becomes a sound that your brain can more readily adapt to and, over time, may begin to ignore.
And there’s no need to be concerned about lower frequencies making everyday sounds hard to hear.
In fact, our patients have found the opposite to be true. They report that with a lower tinnitus frequency, following conversations becomes easier, not harder. They experience less mental fatigue and notice that talking with others overrides the tinnitus tone and makes it fade away.
Tinnitus Notch Frequency Therapy Explained
So many tinintus sufferers out there don’t know about it, so I had to make this video to get the word out. Learn the working mechanisms, how we see if patients qualify for the treatment, and why a drop in the frequency can be life-changing.
The Treatment Process
Free Phone Call
1.1) Fill out our tinnitus-formula:
1.2) Book a 20-minute free introductory phone call in our calendar:
1.3) Wait for us to call you on the specific day and time you booked for. During the call, we will determine whether or not we believe we can help your individual tinnitus-situation.
Initial Assessment
We will start off with an initial one-to-one assessment which includes a hearing test and frequency measurements, all for €200. Pay securely via a link to our webshop. Based on your results, we’ll identify the optimal treatment plan for you.
Payment and Confirmation
4th Assessment
Upon choosing to proceed with us, you officially become a Notch Frequency Therapy patient and the €1,610 payment for our 12-month treatment course is processed. We accept credit or debit card payments through our webshop, for which a payment link will be sent to you.
2nd Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after 3 – 4 weeks of daily therapy.
3rd Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
4th Assessment
5th Assessment
6th Assessment
7th Assessment
8th Assessment
9th Assessment
10th Assessment
11th Assessment
12th Assessment
12th and final measurement and assessment from this course. We will evaluate the final results with you and give you advice accordingly. You can decide whether you want to stop here, continue, or even try the Lenire treatment for further improvements.
The Treatment Process
Free Phone Call
1.1) Fill out our tinnitus-formula:
1.2) Book a 20-minute free introductory phone call in our calendar:
1.3) Wait for us to call you on the specific day and time you booked for. During the call, we will determine whether or not we believe we can help your individual tinnitus-situation.
Initial Assessment
We will start off with an initial one-to-one assessment which includes reviewing your hearing test and taking a frequency measurement, all for €200. Pay securely via a link to our webshop. Based on your results, we’ll identify the optimal treatment plan for you.
Payment and Confirmation
Upon choosing to proceed with us, you officially become a Notch Frequency Therapy patient and the €1,610 payment for our 12-month treatment course is processed. We accept credit or debit card payments through our webshop, for which a payment link will be sent to you.
2nd Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after 3 – 4 weeks of daily therapy.
3rd Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
4th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
5th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
6th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after 3 – 4 weeks of daily therapy.
7th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
8th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
9th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
10th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
11th Assessment
Evaluating one-to-one assesment with frequency-measurement after a month of daily therapy.
12th Assessment
12th and final measurement and assessment from this course. We will evaluate the final results with you and give you advice accordingly. You can decide whether you want to stop here, continue, or even try the Lenire treatment for further improvements.
Who Are We?
My name is Thomas Borgaa, and I founded the Borgaa Clinic back in 2001. We are a private clinical practice in Denmark, specialized in innovative methods to treat diseases related to ears and eyes.
I’ve experienced how frustrating it is for patients when they are told by their doctor that there is nothing to do about their tinnitus or their AMD. This has given me a relentless drive and motivation to create a trustworthy alternative to the public healthcare system.
At the Borgaa Clinic, we don’t just treat symptoms; we opt for effective and lasting improvements. Our focus is not on traditional care but more on the groundbreaking realm of functional medicine. With my network of the most advanced and innovative treatment manufacturers all across Europe, I import only the very best and take pride in making these accessible to patients worldwide.
What Our Patients Say
Here, you can discover what our patients experience getting Notch Frequency Therapy Treatment from us. Read interviews and articles with informative content about tinnitus, and how the condition has improved in our many patients.
I’ve been terribly plagued by tinnitus. It sounded like someone was right next to me with a huge angle grinder running wildly. I was restless, I couldn’t find peace and focus, and had problems sleeping … I contacted Thomas, and he seemed very honest and sincere. He encouraged me to make sure that my doctor and the public healthcare system couldn’t help me before initiating treatment. That really appealed to me … So we started the treatment, and Thomas measured my frequency at 11,500 Hz … I’ve been listening for 30 minutes every day, right before I go to sleep … Today, I am down to 252 Hz. I have a completely different life again. I’m almost back to how I was and felt before.”
Mikkel Dahlmann
Former Soldier, current Electrician
I had a very sharp and high-pitched ringing tone… It was diagnosed to be 11,800 Hz. After the treatment, it’s now down to somewhere between 250 to 300 Hz. So, it has helped me tremendously.
It’s a fantastic feeling of freedom … For the first 4 years after it was diagnosed, I focused intensively on notched frequency therapy. Thomas could detect an improvement in my frequency after two months, though I couldn’t feel any change myself. It was slowly and steadily decreasing. After three months, I began to notice an improvement myself, and the ringing gradually diminished. From there, it has been steadily improving.”
ole hansen
Former Metal Worker
Tinnitus ruined my life. I couldn’t continue full-time with my job. My sleep was really bad. I had many nights where I only slept for an hour.
I did a lot of Googling for a while. Shortly after, I was at the Borgaa clinic and for the first time, I felt that someone really took me seriously and listened to what I had to say. That really had an emotional impact on me, so much so that I remember starting to cry during our first conversation.
The Borgaa Clinic have been so fantastic, and Thomas Borgaa is the first person who took me seriously throughout the whole process. They get my highest recommendation.”
gitta ravn
Owner of Cranio Sacral Therapy Clinic
I’ve been terribly plagued by tinnitus. It sounded like someone was right next to me with a huge angle grinder running wildly. I was restless, I couldn’t find peace and focus, and had problems sleeping … I contacted Thomas, and he seemed very honest and sincere. He encouraged me to make sure that my doctor and the public healthcare system couldn’t help me before initiating treatment. That really appealed to me … So we started the treatment, and Thomas measured my frequency at 11,500 Hz … I’ve been listening for 30 minutes every day, right before I go to sleep … Today, I am down to 252 Hz. I have a completely different life again. I’m almost back to how I was and felt before.”
Mikkel Dahlmann
Former Soldier, current Electrician
I had a very sharp and high-pitched ringing tone… It was diagnosed to be 11,800 Hz. After the treatment, it’s now down to somewhere between 250 to 300 Hz. So, it has helped me tremendously.
It’s a fantastic feeling of freedom … For the first 4 years after it was diagnosed, I focused intensively on notched frequency therapy. Thomas could detect an improvement in my frequency after two months, though I couldn’t feel any change myself. It was slowly and steadily decreasing. After three months, I began to notice an improvement myself, and the ringing gradually diminished. From there, it has been steadily improving.”
ole hansen
Former Metal Worker
Tinnitus ruined my life. I couldn’t continue full-time with my job. My sleep was really bad. I had many nights where I only slept for an hour.
I did a lot of Googling for a while. Shortly after, I was at the Borgaa clinic and for the first time, I felt that someone really took me seriously and listened to what I had to say. That really had an emotional impact on me, so much so that I remember starting to cry during our first conversation.
The Borgaa Clinic have been so fantastic, and Thomas Borgaa is the first person who took me seriously throughout the whole process. They get my highest recommendation.”
gitta ravn
Municipality Worker
Frequently Asked Questions
What music and sound material will I be listening to?
We’ve collaborated with professional musicians and sound engineers from Denmark to provide you the best sound material for Notch Frequency Therapy.
You can have a quick preview here, but don’t listen excessively before getting your frequency professionally measured – you don’t want to risk listening to the wrong therapy!
Once you’ve got a hearing test and a frequency measurement and if we confirm that your individual tinnitus-situation has potential to be helped by Notch Frequency Therapy, that’s when you can start listening.
Depending on your preferances, we will either send you a dropbox link with the sound material tailored to your frequency, or we will guide you through how to set up your Spotify to listen to the therapy there. It’s completely up to you.
We have also made a guide for listening to Tinnitus Notch Frequency Therapy that you can use. Check out our PDF, or click on the button below to get the appropriate guide for your device.
Do I need anything to get started?
To get started with the first free 20-minute assessment, you don’t need anything besides filling the form, and booking an appointment in our calendar. After that phone call, if you then decide to proceed, and if we estimate that your condition can be helped by Notch Frequency Therapy, you will need the following for the first assessment with frequency measurement and hearing test:
A computer connected to the internet. Set the computer’s volume to a minimum. You will only use the computer for the tinnitus measurement and not for the conversation with us.
A pair of headphones that connect to the computer.
A computer connected to the internet. Set the computer’s volume to a minimum. You will only use the computer for the tinnitus measurement and not for the conversation with us.
A phone that is used only for the conversation with us (if you have an Android device, we will use Messenger video, and if you have an iPhone, we will use FaceTime so we can see each other).
Install TeamViewer by cliking on this icon. You will be directed to our download link, where you will recieve a code that we need to take over your computer during the frequency measurement. We will handle all the technical stuff and you only have to focus 100% on the masurement.
What is the scientific evidence behind Notch Frequency Therapy?
· Okamoto, H., Stracke, H., Stoll, W., & Pantev, C. (2010). Listening to tailor-made notched music reduces tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related auditory cortex activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(3), 1207–1210. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/20080545
· Stracke, H. , Okamoto, H., Pantev, C.( 2010). Customized notched music training reduces tinnitus loudness. Communicative integrative biology, 3(3), 274–277. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2918775/
· Wilson, E., Schlaug, G., & Pantev, C. (2010). Listening to filtered music as a treatment option for tinnitus: A review. Music perception, 27(4), 327–330. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21170296
· Lugli, M., Romani, R., Ponzi, S., Bacciu, S., & Parmigiani, S. (2009). The windowed sound therapy: a new empirical approach for an effective persona- lized treatment of tinnitus. The international tinnitus journal, 15(1), 51–61. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19842347
· Pantev, C., Okamoto, H., & Teismann, H. (2012). Music-induced cortical plasticity and lateral inhibition in the human auditory cortex as foundations for tonal tinnitus treatment. Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 6(June), 50. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22754508
· Teismann, H., Okamoto, H., & Pantev, C. (2011). Short and intense tailor- made notched music training against tinnitus: the tinnitus frequency matters. PloS one, 6(9), e24685. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21935438
· Pape, J., Paraskevopoulos, E., Bruchmann, M., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2014). Playing and listening to tailor-made notched music: Cortical plasticity induced by unimodal and multimodal training in tinnitus patients. Neural Plasticity. 2014:516163. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/24895541
· Stein, A., Engell, A., Junghoefer, M., Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Inhibition-induced plasticity in tinnitus patients after repetitive exposure to tailor-made notched music. Clinical Neurophysiology, S1388-2457(14)00473-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/25441152
· Stein, A., Engell, A., Lau, P., Wunderlich, R., Junghoefer, M., Wollbrink, A., Bruchmann, M., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Enhancing inhibition-induced plasticity in tinnitus–spectral energy contrasts in tailor- made notched music matter. PloS One 10, e0126494. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub- med/25951605
· Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Stein, A., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Impact of Spectral Notch Width on Neurophysiological Plasticity and Clinical Effectiveness of the Tailor-Made Notched Music Training. PloS One 10, e0138595. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC4583393/
· Stein, A., Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Shaykevich, A., Kuhn, J.-T., Holling, H., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2016). Clinical trial on tonal tinnitus with tailor-made notched music training. BMC Neurol. 16, 38. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26987755
· Eggermont, J.J., & Roberts, L.E. (2012). The neuroscience of tinnitus: understanding abnormal and normal auditory perception. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 6: 53. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22798948
When in the process can I expect improvement?
While there is no way to predict this with absolute certainty, the average decline in frequency will be 10% per month, with a halvation time of 6 months. After 12 months, the frequency is typically only 20% of what it used to be when the treatment was started.
Keep in mind, this is the average frequency decline. How the frequency falls can vary a lot in each patient, and it’s far from always a linear curve. In fact, we usually differentiate between the three most common experiences that this model show. The vast majority of patients has one of these three types of reactions to the treatment:
Three Common Reactions To Notch Frequency Therapy
Reaction 1) The Slow, Gentle Decline:
The patient gradually and steadily decreases in frequency, typically at a rate of 0.5-1.0% per day on average. After the first month, this type of patient is often unsure if there has been any improvement but senses that it may be slightly better than before. However, measurements reveal that the frequency has actually dropped, perhaps by 10-20%.
Explanation: Changes that occur slowly and gradually are challenging to notice. It’s a bit like how we can’t see our children growing taller, but others who rarely see them are surprised by how much they’ve grown. Only after 2-3 months will this type of patient feel confident that there has been a clear improvement and naturally, they will be delighted with the result.
Reaction 2) The Sudden Decline
The tone or noise remains unchanged for a while, but suddenly, there is a clear and drastic drop in frequency. This can happen both while awake or during sleep. The shift in frequency is distinct and significant, as if the tone has shifted to a lower gear in just a few seconds.
Explanation: The brain took its time to be convinced. However, the reaction, in the form of the frequency drop, is swift and determined. This patient becomes completely convinced of the treatment’s positive effect quickly and continues to work patiently with the expectation of further improvements.
Reaction 3) The Unstable Decline
Initially, the tone remains unchanged, but after a while, the howling or noise that has been stable for years starts to become variable and unpredictable. It may completely fade away for 10 minutes, only to return at full strength. It might also switch from one ear to the other, or the “shape” of the tone may change. This patient often becomes anxious, as the worst fear of all tinnitus patients is experiencing worsening symptoms. However, there is reason for optimism: this period of instability is always followed by a decline and thus an improvement. The anxious period likely reflects the brain’s uncertainty about what is real, and in its confusion, the brain attempts to change and adjust the tone.
Only when the permanent improvement occurs does the patient become calm and positive, relaxes, and continues to work with the belief that further improvement is possible.
Is it necessary to get help measuring my frequency?
Yes! Both because it significantly increases the chances of a positive result from all the time you spend on Notched Frequency Therapy, and also because there’s a safety element in the measurement.
Most people measure incorrectly when they try to measure their tinnitus themselves. Many listen for volume instead of frequency, and others overlook that the higher they go in frequency, the more their hearing deteriorates. So, they experience the sound disappearing and assume that it must be because they have found the ‘match’ for their tinnitus, which is incorrect.
Often, they are also psychologically biased, either positively or negatively, depending on how they feel right now. Others misinterpret a ‘sharp shape’ of tinnitus as a high frequency, which is not the case. Or they mistake octaves, which can deceive them into choosing an octave above or below their tinnitus.
Furthermore, some simply have hearing that is too impaired for the method to be suitable for them. A hearing loss of more than 40-45 dB is, in our opinion, the maximum tolerable hearing loss around the tinnitus frequency for this Notch Frequency Therapy to be successful, which is why we also combine our first frequency measurement with a hearing test in our treatment package. Based on this criteria, we currently screen out about 40% of our patients from starting the therapy and recommend them other treatment methods, such as Lenire or infrared laser treatment.
In addition, as mentioned, there’s a safety element. Self-measurements often take a really long time and not infrequently lead to unpleasant surprises, such as excessively loud volume, because the patient is not familiar in advance with either the program’s or the hearing’s intricacies.
A frequency measurement should not last much more than a maximum of 10 minutes. The brain can rarely concentrate for longer than this period, and the results become more ‘muddled’ the longer you go around in the measurement, and the patient becomes more and more exhausted. In addition, high-frequency sound is not the healthiest thing a tinnitus patient can listen to, so the test should be as short as possible, and always with the least possible volume.
Even experienced musicians, music teachers, or music producers can have an extremely hard time accurately determining their frequency, so tinnitus measurement is not suitable as a do-it-yourself project.
Our method, based on years of experience with thousands of measurements, ensures you listen to the tones for the shortest duration possible, avoiding sudden exposure to unpleasant piercing noise that could potentially worsen your condition.
Why should the frequency measurement normally be compared with a hearing test?
If you have a hearing loss of more than 40-45 dB in at least one ear, you brain will have difficulty hearing the notched ‘gap’ in the sound picture that we cut out in the sound therapy. If your brain doesn’t register that gap, the treatment won’t work.
A patient with too impaired hearing would have to turn up the therapy volume unacceptably high to hear the gap, and that is naturally a ‘no-go zone’ for a tinnitus patient. So, for the method to work, you need to both accurately determine your frequency and have reasonable hearing around that frequency.
We thus screen out about 40% of patients based on these two criteria, just so they don’t waste their time and money on something that will be ineffective and frustrating. On the other hand, if the two aforementioned criteria are met, Notch Frequency Therapy is a surprisingly effective treatment method, often able to give suitable patients significant results for a very affordable price.
Can everyone be treated with Notched Frequency Therapy?
Unfortunately, no, we screen out many due to uncertainty around the frequency measurement or significantly impaired hearing in the tinnitus frequency range. To avoid wasting time and money on a treatment method that won’t work, it’s important that you get help with the measurement and the right advice throughout the process. This is how Notched Frequency becomes a successful experience for the tinnitus patient, and those who we know from the outset will have a difficult course, we therefore screen out at the beginning.
Can I also get this treatment in your clinic?
You are always welcome here in Denmark to get the Notch Frequency Therapy at our physical clinic. You can even stay at our hotel to get the maximum out of your treatment stay.
The effect of the Notch Frequency Therapy itself will be exactly the same whether you get it in our clinic or the online way. But if you visit our clinic, we can combine the Notch Frequency Therapy with infrared laser treatment, which has often shown to further improve the great results that this treatment can provide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What music and sound material will I be listening to?
We’ve collaborated with professional musicians and sound engineers from Denmark to provide you the best sound material for Notch Frequency Therapy.
You can have a quick preview here, but don’t listen excessively before getting your frequency professionally measured – you don’t want to risk listening to the wrong therapy!
Once you’ve got a hearing test and a frequency measurement and if we confirm that your individual tinnitus-situation has potential to be helped by Notch Frequency Therapy, that’s when you can start listening.
Depending on your preferances, we will either send you a dropbox link with the sound material tailored to your frequency, or we will guide you through how to set up your Spotify to listen to the therapy there. It’s completely up to you.
We have also made a guide for listening to Tinnitus Notch Frequency Therapy that you can use. Check out our PDF, or click on the button below to get the appropriate guide for your device.
Do I need anything to get started?
To get started with the first free 20-minute assessment, you don’t need anything besides filling the form, and booking an appointment in our calendar. After that phone call, if you then decide to proceed, and if we estimate that your condition can be helped by Notch Frequency Therapy, you will need the following for the first assessment with frequency measurement and hearing test:
A computer connected to the internet. Set the computer’s volume to a minimum. You will only use the computer for the tinnitus measurement and not for the conversation with us.
A pair of headphones that connect to the computer.
A phone that is used only for the conversation with us (if you have an Android device, we will use Messenger video, and if you have an iPhone, we will use FaceTime so we can see each other).
Install TeamViewer by cliking on this icon. You will be directed to our download link, where you will recieve a code that we need to take over your computer during the frequency measurement. We will handle all the technical stuff and you only have to focus 100% on the masurement.
What is the scientific evidence behind Notch Frequency Therapy?
· Okamoto, H., Stracke, H., Stoll, W., & Pantev, C. (2010). Listening to tailor-made notched music reduces tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related auditory cortex activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(3), 1207–1210. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/20080545
· Stracke, H. , Okamoto, H., Pantev, C.( 2010). Customized notched music training reduces tinnitus loudness. Communicative integrative biology, 3(3), 274–277. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2918775/
· Wilson, E., Schlaug, G., & Pantev, C. (2010). Listening to filtered music as a treatment option for tinnitus: A review. Music perception, 27(4), 327–330. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21170296
· Lugli, M., Romani, R., Ponzi, S., Bacciu, S., & Parmigiani, S. (2009). The windowed sound therapy: a new empirical approach for an effective persona- lized treatment of tinnitus. The international tinnitus journal, 15(1), 51–61. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19842347
· Pantev, C., Okamoto, H., & Teismann, H. (2012). Music-induced cortical plasticity and lateral inhibition in the human auditory cortex as foundations for tonal tinnitus treatment. Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 6(June), 50. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22754508
· Teismann, H., Okamoto, H., & Pantev, C. (2011). Short and intense tailor- made notched music training against tinnitus: the tinnitus frequency matters. PloS one, 6(9), e24685. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21935438
· Pape, J., Paraskevopoulos, E., Bruchmann, M., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2014). Playing and listening to tailor-made notched music: Cortical plasticity induced by unimodal and multimodal training in tinnitus patients. Neural Plasticity. 2014:516163. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/24895541
· Stein, A., Engell, A., Junghoefer, M., Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Inhibition-induced plasticity in tinnitus patients after repetitive exposure to tailor-made notched music. Clinical Neurophysiology, S1388-2457(14)00473-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/25441152
· Stein, A., Engell, A., Lau, P., Wunderlich, R., Junghoefer, M., Wollbrink, A., Bruchmann, M., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Enhancing inhibition-induced plasticity in tinnitus–spectral energy contrasts in tailor- made notched music matter. PloS One 10, e0126494. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub- med/25951605
· Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Stein, A., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Impact of Spectral Notch Width on Neurophysiological Plasticity and Clinical Effectiveness of the Tailor-Made Notched Music Training. PloS One 10, e0138595. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC4583393/
· Stein, A., Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Shaykevich, A., Kuhn, J.-T., Holling, H., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2016). Clinical trial on tonal tinnitus with tailor-made notched music training. BMC Neurol. 16, 38. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26987755
· Eggermont, J.J., & Roberts, L.E. (2012). The neuroscience of tinnitus: understanding abnormal and normal auditory perception. Front. Syst. Neurosci. 6: 53. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22798948
When in the process can I expect improvement?
While there is no way to predict this with absolute certainty, the average decline in frequency will be 10% per month, with a halvation time of 6 months. After 12 months, the frequency is typically only 20% of what it used to be when the treatment was started.
Keep in mind, this is the average frequency decline. How the frequency falls can vary a lot in each patient, and it’s far from always a linear curve. In fact, we usually differentiate between the three most common experiences that this model show. The vast majority of patients has one of these three types of reactions to the treatment:
Three Common Reactions To Notch Frequency Therapy
Reaction 1) The Slow, Gentle Decline:
The patient gradually and steadily decreases in frequency, typically at a rate of 0.5-1.0% per day on average. After the first month, this type of patient is often unsure if there has been any improvement but senses that it may be slightly better than before. However, measurements reveal that the frequency has actually dropped, perhaps by 10-20%.
Explanation: Changes that occur slowly and gradually are challenging to notice. It’s a bit like how we can’t see our children growing taller, but others who rarely see them are surprised by how much they’ve grown. Only after 2-3 months will this type of patient feel confident that there has been a clear improvement and naturally, they will be delighted with the result.
Reaction 2) The Sudden Decline
The tone or noise remains unchanged for a while, but suddenly, there is a clear and drastic drop in frequency. This can happen both while awake or during sleep. The shift in frequency is distinct and significant, as if the tone has shifted to a lower gear in just a few seconds.
Explanation: The brain took its time to be convinced. However, the reaction, in the form of the frequency drop, is swift and determined. This patient becomes completely convinced of the treatment’s positive effect quickly and continues to work patiently with the expectation of further improvements.
Reaction 3) The Unstable Decline
Initially, the tone remains unchanged, but after a while, the howling or noise that has been stable for years starts to become variable and unpredictable. It may completely fade away for 10 minutes, only to return at full strength. It might also switch from one ear to the other, or the “shape” of the tone may change. This patient often becomes anxious, as the worst fear of all tinnitus patients is experiencing worsening symptoms. However, there is reason for optimism: this period of instability is always followed by a decline and thus an improvement. The anxious period likely reflects the brain’s uncertainty about what is real, and in its confusion, the brain attempts to change and adjust the tone.
Only when the permanent improvement occurs does the patient become calm and positive, relaxes, and continues to work with the belief that further improvement is possible.
Is it necessary to get help measuring my frequency?
Yes! Both because it significantly increases the chances of a positive result from all the time you spend on Notched Frequency Therapy, and also because there’s a safety element in the measurement.
Most people measure incorrectly when they try to measure their tinnitus themselves. Many listen for volume instead of frequency, and others overlook that the higher they go in frequency, the more their hearing deteriorates. So, they experience the sound disappearing and assume that it must be because they have found the ‘match’ for their tinnitus, which is incorrect.
Often, they are also psychologically biased, either positively or negatively, depending on how they feel right now. Others misinterpret a ‘sharp shape’ of tinnitus as a high frequency, which is not the case. Or they mistake octaves, which can deceive them into choosing an octave above or below their tinnitus.
Furthermore, some simply have hearing that is too impaired for the method to be suitable for them. A hearing loss of more than 40-45 dB is, in our opinion, the maximum tolerable hearing loss around the tinnitus frequency for this Notch Frequency Therapy to be successful, which is why we also combine our first frequency measurement with a hearing test in our treatment package. Based on this criteria, we currently screen out about 40% of our patients from starting the therapy and recommend them other treatment methods, such as Lenire or infrared laser treatment.
In addition, as mentioned, there’s a safety element. Self-measurements often take a really long time and not infrequently lead to unpleasant surprises, such as excessively loud volume, because the patient is not familiar in advance with either the program’s or the hearing’s intricacies.
A frequency measurement should not last much more than a maximum of 10 minutes. The brain can rarely concentrate for longer than this period, and the results become more ‘muddled’ the longer you go around in the measurement, and the patient becomes more and more exhausted. In addition, high-frequency sound is not the healthiest thing a tinnitus patient can listen to, so the test should be as short as possible, and always with the least possible volume.
Even experienced musicians, music teachers, or music producers can have an extremely hard time accurately determining their frequency, so tinnitus measurement is not suitable as a do-it-yourself project.
Our method, based on years of experience with thousands of measurements, ensures you listen to the tones for the shortest duration possible, avoiding sudden exposure to unpleasant piercing noise that could potentially worsen your condition.
Why should the frequency measurement normally be compared with a hearing test?
If you have a hearing loss of more than 40-45 dB in at least one ear, you brain will have difficulty hearing the notched ‘gap’ in the sound picture that we cut out in the sound therapy. If your brain doesn’t register that gap, the treatment won’t work.
A patient with too impaired hearing would have to turn up the therapy volume unacceptably high to hear the gap, and that is naturally a ‘no-go zone’ for a tinnitus patient. So, for the method to work, you need to both accurately determine your frequency and have reasonable hearing around that frequency.
We thus screen out about 40% of patients based on these two criteria, just so they don’t waste their time and money on something that will be ineffective and frustrating. On the other hand, if the two aforementioned criteria are met, Notch Frequency Therapy is a surprisingly effective treatment method, often able to give suitable patients significant results for a very affordable price.
Can everyone be treated with Notched Frequency Therapy?
Unfortunately, no, we screen out many due to uncertainty around the frequency measurement or significantly impaired hearing in the tinnitus frequency range. To avoid wasting time and money on a treatment method that won’t work, it’s important that you get help with the measurement and the right advice throughout the process. This is how Notched Frequency becomes a successful experience for the tinnitus patient, and those who we know from the outset will have a difficult course, we therefore screen out at the beginning.
Can I also get this treatment in your clinic?
You are always welcome here in Denmark to get the Notch Frequency Therapy at our physical clinic. You can even stay at our hotel to get the maximum out of your treatment stay.
The effect of the Notch Frequency Therapy itself will be exactly the same whether you get it in our clinic or the online way. But if you visit our clinic, we can combine the Notch Frequency Therapy with infrared laser treatment, which has often shown to further improve the great results that this treatment can provide.