Tinnitus: Ending an Unrelenting Noise

Aired on Lifetime Television
April 20 and June 1, 2008
Show 509

"It sounded like a spoon hitting a cookie sheet over, and over, and over" That's how Sampson Parsons describes the unrelenting noise that haunted him day and night for years, causing depression and almost ruining his life. Parsons had tinnitus, a condition that affects millions to some degree. The American Tinnitus Association estimates that 12 million people in the US have chronic tinnitus that is severe enough to seek medical help, including two million who are debilitated by it. In most cases, the person has lost some hearing and the ears are not providing the brain with full information, which can causes the brain to 'fill in the blanks.'  Desperate for relief, Parsons decided to try a highly experimental surgical procedure that included removing part of his skull and placing electrodes on his brain. They essentially regulate electric signals, similar to the way a pacemaker works on the heart. Three months later, the tinnitus-related noises were gone. This type of technology is now being research for all kinds of neurological disorders. Meanwhile, for Sampson Parsons, the noise has stopped and given him his life back.