Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Tinnitus

Inclusion Criteria

• •Diagnosis of chronic tinnitus.
• •Able to provide written informed consent.
• •Subject is naive regarding rTMS.
• •Age/Gender: minimum 18 years old, with an attempt to sample equal numbers of male and female subjects.
• •Other concurrent treatments: A four-week washout from any other tinnitus treatment or management program is required prior to entering this study.
• •Other medications: No restrictions, provided the dosages have been in place for at least 6 months.
• •Psychological status: Stable enough to complete this study per the opinion of the Study Physician.
• •Hearing function: All degrees of hearing function can be included recognizing that profound, bilateral losses will not be able to perform tinnitus evaluations and hearing tests, but will be able to rate subjective tinnitus loudness, annoyance and impact on life. This is an important subpopulation because of the challenges in treating them with acoustic therapy and the need for a medical intervention.
• •Tinnitus characteristics: All forms of tinnitus etiology will be accepted, providing the following criteria are met:
• •* Tinnitus duration: Not less than 1 year. Cases of less than 1 year duration have increased likelihood of resolving spontaneously.
• •* Stability: Constant (not pulsatile, intermittent, varying to a high degree in loudness or changing in location of perception). Fluctuating tinnitus reduces the reliability of test-retest measures for loudness.
• •* Self-rated tinnitus loudness: \>= 6 on a visual numerical scale (VNS: 0 labeled "No Tinnitus", 10 labeled "Very Loud"). This outcome measure will provide a subjective indication of immediate changes in perceived loudness.
• •* Location of tinnitus perception: Unrestricted. Tinnitus may be unilateral, bilateral, or perceived in the head.