Scientific Evidence

Welcome to our scientific evidence library! Here you can learn more about tinnitus, its management with SilentCloud, and the clinical evidence that informed the development of our solution and its marketing messages. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at: info@silentcloud.com

Tinnitus Facts & Figures
  • Tinnitus occurs when buzzing or other noises are heard in one or both ears, or in the head. It is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from many causes. Everyone perceives tinnitus differently. For some it is a ringing or hissing, while for others it can be more complex sounds, such as insect sounds, running water or chimes.1,2
  • 10 to 15% of the population experience tinnitus.3,4,5
  • Of those experiencing tinnitus, up to 20% report that it is “bothersome” and are in need of clinical help to reduce the burden and improve their quality of life.1,4,5
  • Tinnitus is linked with hearing loss, noise exposure, stress and aging.2,3,6
  • 9 out of 10 tinnitus patients also have a hearing loss.4,7
  • It is assumed that hearing loss triggers the central auditory system to adapt & compensate which then results in tinnitus.1,4,7
  • Hearing aids may offer a solution to people experiencing tinnitus, because hearing aids may mask its perception by amplifying meaningful sounds, and diverting attention away from the tinnitus.4,7
Tinnitus Management
  • Although there is no cure for tinnitus, the symptoms and discomfort can be reduced with appropriate management.4,5
  • Tinnitus management aims at making symptoms less intrusive and distressing. Current clinical guidelines recommend a combination of management approaches, including the use of education, sound therapies and advanced tinnitus counseling like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.4
Tinnitus Management with SilentCloud
  • SilentCloud is an approved medical app for the self-paced management of bothersome tinnitus.8
  • Available on your smartphone at low cost, all therapies in SilentCloud are based on current clinical recommendations that have been proven to counteract the burden of tinnitus.4,5,9
  • SilentCloud was built on clinically proven protocols, and includes tinnitus and hearing assessments, education on tinnitus, internet-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (iCBT), and sound therapy.4,5,10
  • Your Calm Corner contains a library of sounds and guided relaxation exercises to help you relax and tune out tinnitus.8,11
  • Your Tinnitus Tutor guides you in understanding your tinnitus and how to manage it. Learning about tinnitus is known to help reduce its burden.5,12,13
Advanced Therapies in SilentCloud

Your Counseling Therapy

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the most recommended approach for tinnitus management.4,5
  • Existing CBT protocols have been tailored for internet-based CBT (iCBT) and can be completed independently through the app. iCBT has been shown to be clinically equivalent to traditional group CBT in terms of reducing tinnitus burden.9,14,15
  • iCBT can help you change the impact that tinnitus has on your life by helping you change dysfunctional behaviors and thoughts associated with tinnitus.9
  • SilentCloud uses an iCBT protocol that was developed together with CBT experts.
  • iCBT reduces tinnitus burden by about 34%9,14,15
  • Daily iCBT sessions can be completed within 15 – 20 minutes.8

 

Your Sound Therapy

  • SilentCloud contains three types of sound therapy, which are administered via headphones.
  • Your Sound Therapy contains personalized listening exercises intended to train your brain to tune out tinnitus.8,16
  • We recommend using sound therapy for a minimum of 6 months.10

 

1) Basic Sound Therapy

  • SilentCloud’s Basic Sound Therapy provides pink noise sound stimulation that intends to reduce the audibility of your tinnitus and/or suppress your tinnitus perception via masking. 17
  • The masking sound aims to provide a distraction and therefore a relief from your tinnitus.17
  • Using broadband noise, such as pink noise (resembling roaring of a river current), is the standard option for most auditory treatment devices .17

 

2) Tailored Sound Therapy

  • Designed for atonal tinnitus, the sounds in this approach consist of a tailored noise intended to reduce tinnitus audibility or to suppress your tinnitus perception via masking.8
  • SilentCloud’s Tailored Sound Therapy uses five different noise bands that are adjusted by you to match your tinnitus.8

 

3) Tailored Tonal Sound Therapy

  • Designed for tonal tinnitus, this is a specific form of sound therapy using a range of sounds tailored to your tinnitus.8,18
  • More specifically, it uses patterned stimuli that are personalized to your tinnitus by selecting pure tones at specific intervals above and below the frequency of your tinnitus pitch.18
  • The aim of this approach is to disrupt or desynchronize enhanced neural synchrony that potentially gives rise to tinnitus. In other words, this specific neuromodulation approach may change the brain activity associated with your tinnitus over time and thereby reduce the burden of your tinnitus.18
  • Sound therapy for tonal tinnitus reduces tinnitus distress by about 30%10,18

1Baguley, D., McFerran, D., & Hall, D. (2013). Tinnitus. The Lancet, 382(9904), 1600-1607. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60142-7

 

2 Shore, S. E., Roberts, L. E., & Langguth, B. (2016). Maladaptive plasticity in tinnitus—triggers, mechanisms and treatment. Nature Reviews Neurology, 12(3), 150-160. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.12

 

3 Jarach, C. M., Lugo, A., Scala, M., van den Brandt, P. A., Cederroth, C. R., Odone, A., … & Gallus, S. (2022). Global prevalence and incidence of tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA neurology, 79(9), 888-900. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2022.2189

 

4 Cima, R. F., Mazurek, B., Haider, H., Kikidis, D., Lapira, A., Noreña, A., & Hoare, D. J. (2019). A multidisciplinary European guideline for tinnitus: diagnostics, assessment, and treatment. HNO, 67(1), 10-42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00106-019-0633-7

 

5 Tunkel, D. E., Bauer, C. A., Sun, G. H., Rosenfeld, R. M., Chandrasekhar, S. S., Cunningham Jr, E. R., … & Whamond, E. J. (2014). Clinical practice guideline: tinnitus. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, 151(2_suppl), S1-S40. https://doi.org/10.1177/0194599814545325

 

6 Biswas, R., Genitsaridi, E., Trpchevska, N., Lugo, A., Schlee, W., Cederroth, C. R., … & Hall, D. A. (2023). Low evidence for tinnitus risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, 24(1), 81-94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10162-022-00874-y

 

7 Mazurek, B., Böcking, B., Dobel, C., Rose, M., & Brüggemann, P. (2023). Referateband: Tinnitus and Influencing Comorbidities. Laryngo-Rhino-Otologie, 102(Suppl 1), S50. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1950-6149

 

8 Haller / Wegener (Aureliym) et al., Operating instructions for the SilentCloud v7 – 2022 

 

9 Weise, C., Kleinstäuber, M., & Andersson, G. (2016). Internet-delivered cognitive-behavior therapy for tinnitus: a randomized controlled trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(4), 501-510. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000310

 

10 Theodoroff, S. M., McMillan, G. P., Schmidt, C. J., Dann, S. M., Hauptmann, C., Goodworth, M. C., … & Henry, J. A. (2022). Randomised controlled trial of interventions for bothersome tinnitus: DesyncraTM versus cognitive behavioural therapy. International Journal of Audiology, 61(12), 1035-1044. https://doi.org/10.1080/14992027.2021.2004325

 

11 Henry, J. A., Zaugg, T. L., Myers, P. J., & Schechter, M. A. (2008). Using therapeutic sound with progressive audiologic tinnitus management. Trends in Amplification, 12(3), 188-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1084713808321184

 

12 Schoisswohl, S., Basso, L., Simoes, J., Engelke, M., Langguth, B., Mazurek, B., … & Schlee, W. (2024). Single versus Combination Treatment in Tinnitus: An International, Multicentre, Parallel-arm, Superiority, Randomised Controlled Trial. medRxiv, 2024-01. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.09.24300978

 

13 Henry, J. A., Loovis, C., Montero, M., Kaelin, C., Anselmi, K. A., Coombs, R., … & James, K. E. (2007). Randomized clinical trial: group counseling based on tinnitus retraining therapy. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 44(1). https://doi.org/10.1682/JRRD.2006.02.0018

 

14 Jasper, K., Weise, C., Conrad, I., Andersson, G., Hiller, W., & Kleinstäuber, M. (2014). Internet-based guided self-help versus group cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic tinnitus: a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 83(4), 234-246. https://doi.org/10.1159/000360705

 

15 Hesser, H., Gustafsson, T., Lundén, C., Henrikson, O., Fattahi, K., Johnsson, E., … & Andersson, G. (2012). A randomized controlled trial of Internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of tinnitus. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(4), 649. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027021

 

16 Tass, P. A., & Popovych, O. V. (2012). Unlearning tinnitus-related cerebral synchrony with acoustic coordinated reset stimulation: theoretical concept and modelling. Biological Cybernetics, 106, 27-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-012-0479-5

 

17 Sereda, M., & Hoare, D. J. (2024). Auditory Treatments of Tinnitus. In W. Schlee, B. Langguth, D. De Ridder, S. Vanneste, T. Kleinjung, & A. R. Møller (Eds.), Textbook of Tinnitus (2nd ed., pp. 575–587). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35647-6_46

 

18 Tass, P. A., Adamchic, I., Freund, H. J., Von Stackelberg, T., & Hauptmann, C. (2012). Counteracting tinnitus by acoustic coordinated reset neuromodulation. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 30(2), 137-159. https://doi.org/10.3233/RNN-2012-110218

 

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