Question: did anyone of you hear about a new kind of tinnitus-therapy in vienna? they work with neurotransmitters and semm to have some success. let me know if anyone has done it or heard about it. because i need to get rid of this desperateley.

Answer: This "Caroverin" therapy (the tinnitus therapy from Vienna mentioned above) sounds quite interesting. For you non-German readers, I have done a quick and dirty translation of the articles on caroverin therapy which Wolfgang Janssen so kindly posted. I, like Wolfgang, assume from the context that the "glutamat inhibitor" discussed in the first article is also called "caroverin".

In a study at HNO-University clinic, 45 of 68 patients (66.2%) had an improvement of 50% or more in their tinnitus. . . Glutamat, one of the most important neurotransmitters in the central nervous system is also responsible for the information transfer between the inner hair cells in the inner ear and the aural nerve. Diseases of the inner ear can lead to an excessive production of the neurotransmitter Glutamat and so overwhelm the connecting nerves. The excess of Glutamat disturbs the interplay of aural nerve transmissions. This can lead to a sort of false stimulation of the nerves which may simulate tones or be perceived by the brain as noises in the ear. The goal of this new tinnitus therapy is to protect the receptors in the aural nerve against excessive stimulation and, in case of tinnitus, to re-establish equalibrium [of the aural nerve cells]. The substance tested in this trial is a glutamat inhibitor designed to protect the aural nerve against the over-flooding of glutamat.

Another item having to do with this "Caroverin" matter: According to Prof. Ehrenberger (Introduction to the Conference of the Working Group of German-Speaking Audiologists and Neuro-otologists in March in Freiburg), after a week only approx. 48% of the patients were still observing a reduction of 50% in their tinnitus. So no claims were made about the effectiveness of the therapy over a longer period of time.