International Seminar

The most up to date information on Tinnitus research and treatment comes out of the 8th International Tinnitus Seminar held at Pay, France from 6th to 10 September 2005.

Dr Ross Dineen and Myriam Westcott of Myriam Dineen of Dineen-Westcott Audiology, Heidelberg in Melbourne, attended this conference.

Sue and I attended the annual meeting of the Victorian Tinnitus Association where Ross and Myriam presented their report on the conference.

I also had a quick catch-up with them and introduced myself again as a member of our wonderful Wimmera Hearing Society Inc. team.

A copy of the six page report is available at our office or ring or email us for a posted or faxed copy or check the Victorian Tinnitus Association web site.

These were prevalent in recent tinnitus research:

• the Physiological Mechanism of Tinnitus (the brain’s physical mechanisms which cause tinnitus).

• the Hastreboff Neurophysiological Model of tinnitus and tinnitus retraining therapy (how can we train or trick our brain into coping with or eliminating tinnitus).

• the psychological implications and treatment of Tinnitus (how our mind and emotions and thought processes react to tinnitus).

  I found the physiological research very interesting and encouraging. This is a promising area in which many new experiments lie ahead before treatment at cerebral cortex level (brain stem) will be possible.

  While the papers are very technical, those of you who are really interested would appreciate being kept up to date on the latest research.