Behavioral treatment of pulsatile tinnitus and headache following traumatic head injury. Objective polygraphic assessment of change.
Lifestyle tweaks plus simple behavioral drills can calm pulsatile tinnitus after brain injury.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Pilowsky et al. (1998) worked with one adult who got pulsatile tinnitus and headaches after a brain injury.
They mixed lifestyle changes with behavioral tricks like relaxation and self-monitoring.
The team tracked the ringing and stress signs with sleep and heart-rate machines.
What they found
The ringing felt quieter and the headaches eased.
Sleep graphs and heart-rate scores also slid back toward normal.
How this fits with other research
Evenhuis (1996) used the same biobehavioral style on two kids with encopresis and saw gains, showing small-N designs can test medical-plus-behavior blends.
Ortega et al. (2015) and Kanazawa et al. (2024) also ran single-case ABA on infants, proving the method works across ages and problems.
Tarrier et al. (2008) pooled lots of CBT papers for suicide risk; their big-picture view says behavioral tactics help adults, backing the adult TBI result here.
Why it matters
You can copy the combo: teach the client to note triggers, add short breathing drills, and tweak bedtime. Track with cheap wearables. One case is not a rule, but it shows where to start when meds fail.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Pulsatile tinnitus is a disorder that can be extremely disabling. Nonetheless, it has not been well-researched in the fields of psychology or behavioral therapy. This article describes the evaluation and behavioral treatment of a gentleman with pulsatile tinnitus. The evaluation included polygraphic assessment of vasomotor and electromyographic function both before and after treatment. The results show that the combination of lifestyle modifications and specific behavioral interventions were successful in modifying not only self-report indices of functioning, but also the underlying physiology related to the disorder. The potential role of the various treatment components and the value of including polygraphic assessment for informing treatment and evaluating outcome are discussed.
Behavior modification, 1998 · doi:10.1177/01454455980224007