Victoria Banks woke up from a nap one afternoon in October 2022 to the sound of cicadas buzzing in her head.
The Nashville singer-songwriter waited a full day with the high-pitched, pulsing sound before calling her doctor to check her ears. After a full workup, he said the problem wasn't her ears - it was her brain.
Banks, 52, learned she was suffering from tinnitus, the perception of sound when there's no external source. If the brain doesn't receive the sound signals it's expecting, it tries to compensate by creating noise, said Emily McMahan, an audiologist who practices in Anchorage, Alaska.
"It's the overproduction of brain activity that the person is perceiving as a sound," she said.
Tinnitus typically wanes or goes away for about 80% of the patients who report experiencing it, McMahan said. But traditional treatment methods for the remaining 20%, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or hearing aids, aren't always effective.
That changed in March 2023 when a new medical device called Lenire was introduced to the U.S. market. Researchers found over 91% of tinnitus patients saw an improvement with Lenire, according to a Nature study of about 200 patients published April 28.
But audiologists say the bimodal, neuromodulation device, which retails for about $4,500, isn't for everyone. Only patients with severe cases who are the most dedicated to treating their tinnitus should be considered, said Patty Kalmbach, an audiologist in Denver, Colorado.
"When it's put on the proper patient for the proper reasons, the patient does well," she said. "It's definitely not the only tool in our toolbox but it's been a great tool for us to offer to patients who are distraught and it's their final straw."
Tinnitus can be triggered by prolonged noise exposure, age-related hearing loss, ear trauma or injuries or medical conditions like blood vessel problems or tumors, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Certain medications, such as chemotherapy, have also been associated with developing tinnitus.
Between 10% and 25% of adults experience what's medically termed tinnitus, according to the U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, but hearing the sound for three months or more is considered chronic tinnitus.
Although it can be characterized by a ringing, pulsing, buzzing, hissing or squealing sound, audiologists say the source of the condition lies in the brain's neural networks.
People with tinnitus may experience frustration, problems sleeping, relationship troubles, difficulty concentrating, heightened anxiety, irritability and mental health issues.
Banks was also at the end of her rope right before finding Lenire. Like Carrasco, she tried dietary supplements, meditation, oils and other methods suggested by Internet forums.
By July 2023, more than eight months after her tinnitus first appeared, the cicada infestation in her head didn't subside. She had difficulty concentrating on her music and her anxiety was at an all-time high.
"It felt like there's something broken in my body that's never going to be fixed," she said. "The inability to control it is probably the hardest thing. You feel powerless."
The Lenire device, which looks like an original iPod, sends currents of tongue stimulation that correspond with noises the patient hears through headphones. Patients must wear the device for at least 60 minutes a day for 12 weeks.
Banks wore her Lenire device 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night. The tongue stimulations felt like fizzy candy, she said.
The device works by training the brain to ignore the tinnitus noise and pay attention to the "right" noises, said Ross O'Neill, inventor of Lenire and founding CEO of Neuromod, a medical device company.
"Your brain only has so much attention it can give to any one thing," he said. As patients use Lenire, the device "gradually dilutes" the tinnitus sound.
Banks' tinnitus began improving after four months of using Lenire.
"It gave me relief," Banks said. "It gave me power over something that I didn't have power over."
Lenire works differently for each patient and the key to success is consistency, said Kalmbach, from Denver, Colorado.
She doesn't recommend the device to patients who have mild tinnitus or aren't bothered by the noises they perceive. In these cases, treatment can risk worsening their tinnitus by drawing more attention to the noise.
For those who can benefit from Lenire, "they need to do the work," she said. This means dedicating at least 60 minutes a day to the device without fail or distractions. The treatment is less likely to work if patients skip days or use Lenire while doing other activities, such as watching television or responding to e-mails.
It also means improving lifestyle factors that can impact tinnitus severity such as cutting down on caffeine, alcohol and stressors; improving sleep; and treating other mental health conditions.
The device is also not recommended for those who have an implantable device; are pregnant; have epilepsy; have conditions that impact tongue sensitivity; or have mouth lesions, sores or inflammation. The device also shouldn't be used for people with objective tinnitus, which originates from the ear canal as opposed to the brain.
Some tinnitus patients have also found relief with other treatment options, but sound therapy "is for a very specific group of patients and it's definitely not for everyone," Kalmbach said. "Lenire is a great treatment but I also think it depends on whose hands it is in."
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.