Sound Therapy - FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Sound Therapy and hearing loss
Will Sound Therapy help severe hearing loss?
This is a difficult question as each case of hearing loss is completely unique, and so is the individual’s potential to heal. To take a position of optimism, if there is some hearing then it may be possible to improve that hearing to some extent, especially in a young person. Every little bit of residual hearing is important to the hearing impaired person, so improving that even a little bit is worthwhile.
The only way to improve ear function is to provide the ear with the right chemical (nutritional) and vibrational (sound) stimulus. The natural way to do this is with natural supplements and high frequency sound. These two inputs will work synergistically, meaning that each augments the impact of the other.
People with severe hearing loss have reported improvements through Sound Therapy. Not only does it stimulate the actual ear function, the muscles and the cilia, it also reduces stress, gives a sense of being centred and makes concentration on the auditory stimulus easier.
Will Sound Therapy help someone with a cochlear implant?
We do not know the answer to this question yet, as we have not had direct feedback from implant users. However, since implant users can enjoy music, it is quite possible that Sound Therapy could help in the process of retraining the brain and adjusting to auditory stimulus. We have yet to see the results when some implant users decide to try Sound Therapy.
Why does Sound Therapy focus mainly on high frequencies?
Because the high frequencies are usually lost first, and because they are the most crucial for understanding speech and the subtle meaning -- the mood of speech.
The human ear can potentially hear up to 16,000 Hertz, or 20,000 at the very highest. It is these very high sounds that are particularly emphasised in Sound Therapy as they give most stimulation to the ear and also improve brain energy and auditory perception.
Why don’t they test for frequencies between 8k and 16k?
Hearing tests normally only go as high as 8,000 Hz for two reasons. One is that they are primarily concerned with sounds in the speech range which is mostly below 8,000 Hz.
The other is that if a sound above 8,000 Hz is played too loud it can potentially damage the ear.
Sound Therapy is never played very loud, but even at an inaudible level, the higher frequencies are stimulating the cilia and improving the responsiveness of the auditory system.
If someone has a loss above 8,000 Hz they would not seem deaf but their audio sensitivity and musical appreciation would be reduced. Sound Therapy can re-awaken the perception of these high frequencies and listeners with ‘normal’ hearing are often amazed and the sense of expanded auditory awareness they discover.
How does Sound Therapy help conductive hearing loss?
By exercising and strengthening the middle ear muscles. The hammer and stirrup muscles play an important role, according to Dr Tomatis, in controlling the type of sounds that reach the inner ear^. It has also been noted that those with difficulty equalising their ear pressure or a persistent sense of blockage and fullness in the head achieve relief through Sound Therapy, once the middle ear muscles have regained their proper tone. This verifies Tomatis’s claim that Sound Therapy has a direct impact on middle ear function.
How does Sound Therapy help sensorineural hearing loss?
By gently stimulating the cilia and restoring their function. Sound Therapy is unique because it is the only time, apart from hearing natural sounds such as bird songs and frogs, where we hear concentrated doses of high frequency sounds at low volume. Most of the sound we hear today is machine noise which is nearly always in the low frequencies. Sound Therapy differs from nature sounds because it uses classical music made up of complex melodies, rhythms and harmonies, and is also rich in high frequencies, which have then been further augmented by the special recording program.
Though clinically controlled experiments have not yet been done on hearing loss, sufficient numbers of listeners have reported improved hearing to indicate that Sound Therapy does achieve this in some cases. ^^
If I or my child uses a hearing aid how can we use Sound Therapy?
You can either listen with or without your hearing aid. It is recommended to use the aid about 50% of the time, depending on preference. By starting out with the aid you allow the muscles to be stimulated. Listening without the aid is also beneficial as this means more of the very high frequencies, above the range of the hearing aid, will get through.
^ Tomatis, Ibid.
^^ Joudry, Patricia, and Joudry, Rafaele, Sound Therapy: Music to Recharge Your Brain, Sound Therapy International Pty Ltd, Sydney 2001
Page updated 26 May 2008
