The AudioCardio app gives your ears a workout with the goal of slowing down hearing loss and reducing ringing

How would you like to be able to slow down the effects of hearing loss?

There are new technologies that could help.

And it comes in an app on your phone.

For decades, Grammy-nominated producer Jon Brown has worked with top-class musicians.

“I worked with the Black Eyed Peas for a while and made music with Pink and Eminem,” he said.

But the loud music took its toll on Brown’s hearing in the form of tinnitus.

“If you can imagine ringing in your ears 24/7. I found out I had a mild hearing loss,” Brown said.

Hearing loss can cause ringing in the ears, but science tells us that once the hair cells in the inner ear die, they don’t regenerate. But Brown heard about a sound therapy app called “AudioCardio” designed to enhance hearing. It delivers specific, tailored sounds that essentially stimulate your auditory cells and pathways to the brain.

“We will not revive dead hair cells. However, we try to stimulate those who have become desensitized or damaged over time,” said Chris Ellis, co-founder of AudioCardio.

Ellis began researching ways to improve hearing after his grandfather suffered from hearing loss and eventually dementia.

A new journal of the American Medical Association to learn suggests that maintaining or restoring hearing may help prevent dementia from progressing.

“Being able to improve your hearing specifically in middle age might actually reduce the risk of dementia as you get older, or at least that’s the theory,” says Dr. William Slattery Ear clinic of the house institute.

The app, which costs about $10 a month, walks you through a self-assessment. Then it emits sound frequencies to train your hearing.

“This tone, which you can’t actually hear, keeps playing to stimulate the cells in the ear. And when those cells get stimulated, they start firing and send a signal to the brain,” Ellis said.

AudioCardio partnered with Stanford researchers to test their app.

“Over 70% of the people we treated with our sound therapy had a 10 decibel improvement in their hearing,” said Ellis.

According to Slattery, sound therapy can slightly improve hearing thresholds, but hearing aids are still the standard of care.

“The most important thing we have to do is keep telling people to protect their ears,” he said.

Slattery said that anything you can do to actively work on your hearing will bring some benefit to the brain. It’s similar to solving word puzzles and maintaining social relationships.

According to Slattery, tinnitus is one area where sound therapy has been shown to help.

Brown is happy with his results.

“Quite fast. Within a few weeks, it really helped reduce the ringing in my ears,” Brown said.

He said he even had an improvement in his hearing.

Now Brown can make music again.