Lenire Tinnitus Treatment Now Available at Fairfield County Audiology
If you've been living with tinnitus — that persistent ringing, buzzing, or hissing — and haven't found lasting relief from traditional approaches, there is now a new option available at our Westport, CT practice. We are pleased to offer Lenire, the first and only FDA-approved bimodal neuromodulation device for the treatment of tinnitus.
What Is Lenire and How Does It Work?
Lenire is a prescription medical device developed by Neuromod Devices. It works by stimulating two parts of the nervous system at the same time — a process called bimodal neuromodulation. During each treatment session, you wear a pair of wireless headphones that deliver customized sounds, while a small device called a TongueTip delivers gentle, mild electrical pulses to the surface of the tongue.
This dual stimulation is designed to drive neuroplasticity — the brain's ability to reorganize and adapt. The goal is to retrain the brain to reduce its focus on the tinnitus signal over time. Treatment sessions are 30 minutes, twice daily, and are self-administered at home over a 12-week period under the guidance of our team.
It's worth noting that Lenire is not a cure for tinnitus. No such cure currently exists. What it offers is a clinically studied approach to meaningfully reducing the severity of symptoms for many patients.
What Do the Clinical Results Show?
Lenire has been evaluated across three large-scale clinical trials involving more than 600 patients. In its second trial, 91% of patients reported a reduction in tinnitus severity that was sustained for at least 12 months after completing treatment. A real-world study of 220 patients at a U.S. tinnitus clinic found a responder rate of 91.5% — consistent with what was seen in the clinical trials.
Lenire received De Novo FDA approval in March 2023, a pathway reserved for novel devices that require the establishment of an entirely new category — not simply a variation on an existing approved product.
Who Is a Candidate for Lenire?
Lenire is not appropriate for everyone with tinnitus. Good candidates are generally adults who experience subjective tinnitus — meaning only they can hear the sound — with at least moderate severity. It tends to show the strongest results in patients with moderate or worse tinnitus, particularly in cases where sound-only approaches have not provided meaningful relief.
As part of a Lenire consultation at our practice, we conduct a thorough tinnitus evaluation to determine whether this treatment is a good fit for your specific situation. We assess tinnitus severity, review your hearing health history, and discuss your treatment goals before recommending any approach.
Patients who use hearing aids are typically advised to be fully adapted to their devices before beginning Lenire treatment.
How Is This Different from Other Tinnitus Treatments?
Most tinnitus management strategies — including sound therapy, hearing aids with tinnitus masking features, and counseling — work primarily through the auditory system. Lenire's bimodal approach adds tongue stimulation to engage the somatosensory system at the same time, which research suggests produces stronger adaptive changes in the brain than auditory input alone.
That said, Lenire is one tool in a broader approach to tinnitus care. For some patients, it may be used alongside hearing aids or other management strategies. Every treatment plan we develop is personalized to the individual — there is no single solution that works for everyone.
Schedule a Tinnitus Consultation in Westport, CT
If you're living with tinnitus in Fairfield County and want to explore whether Lenire is right for you, we'd be glad to talk through your options. Call our Westport practice at (203) 628-2142 to request a consultation. We take the time to understand your experience and help you find a path toward relief.
