Bijscholing 'Bridging the Gap: How an App Brings Physiotherapy for Somatic Tinnitus Home'

What if the biggest barrier to effective tinnitus care is not the treatment itself, but what happens between treatment sessions? 

Physiotherapy can significantly improve symptoms in patients with somatic tinnitus. Yet many patients struggle to maintain their home exercise programme, while tinnitus counselling often remains a challenging aspect of care for physiotherapists. 

To address these challenges, researchers from Hasselt University, University of Antwerp, University of Regensburg, and the Antwerp University Hospital (UZA) developed an innovative blended care approach within the FWO-TBM project. By combining physiotherapy with a smartphone application that supports home exercises and delivers structured tinnitus counselling, they explored whether digital health technology could improve treatment efficiency without compromising clinical outcomes. 

The results are promising. The app-supported approach achieved outcomes comparable to standard physiotherapy while requiring only half the number of face-to-face treatment sessions, making it a more cost-effective and accessible treatment strategy. 

During this REVAL Academy seminar, Prof. Dr. Sarah Michiels and Prof. Dr. Annick Gilles will present the scientific evidence behind this innovative model and discuss its implications for clinical practice. Participants will gain insight into the diagnostic pathway of somatic tinnitus in a tertiary tinnitus clinic, current hybrid physiotherapy treatment options, and clinical decision-making when physiotherapy alone is not sufficient. 

Expect a seminar with clinical examples, interactive discussion, and ample opportunity to engage with leading experts in tinnitus care.