%0 Journal Article
%T Telemedicine in Tinnitus: Feasibility, Advantages, Limitations, and Perspectives
%A Matthieu J. Guitton
%J ISRN Otolaryngology
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/218265
%X Given the important patient needs for support and treatment, telemedicine¡ªdefined by medical approaches supported by the new technologies of information¡ªcould provide interesting alternative in tinnitus treatment. By analyzing the published tools and approaches which could be used in the context of telemedicine for tinnitus by health professionals or self-administrated by patients, this review summarizes, presents, and describes the principal telemedicine approaches available presently or in the near future to help assess or treat tinnitus or to offer support to tinnitus sufferers. Several pieces of evidence strongly support the feasibility of telemedicine approaches for tinnitus. Telemedicine can be used to help tinnitus sufferers at several points in the therapeutic process: for early screening, initial evaluation, and diagnosis; for optimizing therapeutic tools, particularly behavioural therapies and virtual reality-enhanced behavioral therapies; for long-term monitoring of patients and provision of online support. Several limitations are, however, discussed in order to optimize the safe development of such approaches. Cost effective and easy to implement, telemedicine is likely to represent an important part of the future of tinnitus therapies and should be progressively integrated by otolaryngologists. 1. Introduction With the aging of the population and the increase in noise-pollution levels, tinnitus¡ªthe perception of sound in silence¡ªis affecting a growing number of people. This condition represents a heavy burden for the sufferers and their relatives and a major problem for public health. Despite important advances in the last decade in the development of pharmacological strategies using animal models to block the perception of tinnitus [1¨C5], these results have not yet been fully translated into easily available clinical solutions [6]. Psychological and behavioral support unfortunately remains the main therapeutic strategy for tinnitus. However, in the context of limited resources, otolaryngologists, audiologists, or psychologists simply cannot provide tinnitus sufferers with the time and attention they would need to cope with their symptoms. Thus, once a diagnosis has been made and dramatic aetiologies have been ruled out (e.g., neurinoma), the health specialist is often left with no other solution than to tell to the patient to learn to ¡°live with his tinnitus.¡± Therefore, in the absence of effective pharmacological treatment, the vast majority of tinnitus sufferers are left to themselves. Hence, tinnitus must often be managed as a chronic
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.otolaryngology/2013/218265/