Dr. Keith Roach

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband has been suffering from tinnitus for a couple of years now. His primary care physician referred him to an audiologist. He isn’t a candidate for a hearing aid and has basically been told that there is nothing he can do, and there are no treatments available. He has adopted some sound apps on his phone to distract himself from the noise and was offered antidepressants to help him deal with it, but this is about it.

The medical advice that he received also told him not to believe anything he reads about cures because none has been proven to be effective. He tried acupuncture, and although it made him feel more relaxed, it didn’t really help with the ringing in his ears. Some days, it is tolerable, and other days, he hears a nonstop high-pitched scream. It never stops, and his quality of life is being severely impacted.

I am writing to ask, is there really nothing that can be done? We recently heard about the new Lenire device that was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, but we are hesitant to believe the claims. Can you help shed some light on this for us? — A.K.

ANSWER: Tinnitus is the sensation of sound when there actually is none. Many people describe a ringing sensation, but buzzing and hissing are common.

There are two effective treatments for tinnitus: tinnitus retraining therapy, which includes the use of external sound generators (often for one to two years), and cognitive behavioral therapy. I don’t know for sure, but the apps that he was trying might have been based on one or both of these. Tinnitus is usually associated with hearing loss, but if the audiologist didn’t feel that a hearing aid is appropriate, then your husband was, like many people, inadequately treated.

The Lenire device combines sound therapy and an electrical tongue stimulator for neuromodulation, meaning that it “tricks” the nervous system into not paying attention to the tinnitus. The 2025 study I found in Nature on the device was a retrospective chart review of 220 patients, not the more powerful type of study (a prospective clinical trial). But it nevertheless did show a significant improvement in over 90% of the participants, and the FDA granted the device a De Novo approval.

Unfortunately, I have read that the device usually isn’t covered by insurance and costs on the order of $4,000 in the United States. (The device is available through audiologists.)

DEAR DR. ROACH: Is this really the doctor writing or AI? — M.H.

ANSWER: I never use AI to write any of my columns. I am a human being with decades of clinical experience. No AI ever delivered a new human into the world or held a patient’s hand while they are dying. I try to infuse my answers with what I have learned while taking care of my patients.

AI may someday be able to answer questions factually better than humans, and we humans who write may eventually be replaced. But while I am still writing, I refuse to use AI in my columns.

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu.