It’s generally not clear what’s causing tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in your ears). But one thing we know for sure is that if you have hearing loss your probability of experiencing tinnitus goes up. Up to 90% of people who experience tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
As you probably know, your genetics, age, and lifestyle can all be involved in the development of hearing loss. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some mild hearing loss can go undetected. Worse, even a slight case of hearing loss raises your risk and probability of developing tinnitus.
Hearing Aids Won’t Cure Tinnitus But They Can Help
Tinnitus doesn’t have a cure. However, your symptoms can be reduced and your life can be improved by using hearing aids to manage your hearing loss and tinnitus. Sixty percent of people struggling with tinnitus, in fact, experienced relief of their symptoms, and twenty-two had substantial improvement.
A conventional hearing aid can essentially hide the ringing or buzzing associated with tinnitus by strengthening your ability to hear other sounds, which effectively drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, conventional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more sophisticated treatment methods are being produced.
Types of Specialized Hearing Aids to Reduce Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids increase the level of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. Even though it may be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the hum of a dinner party or the clank of a ceiling fan, is critical in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
You can augment those amplification efforts by the combination of other approaches, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to reduce the symptoms of tinnitus. The persistent tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the uneven tones of these inconsistent rhythms.
Blending the natural sounds you hear with your tinnitus sounds is the objective of other advanced hearing aid options. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this technique will use a customized white noise that will be calibrated by your hearing specialist.
Whether you use sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized technologies have a common objective of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
It’s true that there is no cure for tinnitus, but for at least some individuals, hearing aids help decrease symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Call Today to Set Up an Appointment
References
- https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/HLAA_HearingLoss_Facts_Statistics.pdf?pdf=FactStats
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17956798
- https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatment-options/hearing-aids
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6197965