It’s often unclear what’s causing tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing in your ears). However, there is one thing researchers agree on: you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also suffer from hearing loss. According to HLAA up to 90 percent of individuals who are dealing with tinnitus also have hearing loss.
As you probably know, your genetics, age, and lifestyle can all play a role in the advancement of hearing loss. Often, minor cases of hearing loss go undetected and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always evident. Even minor cases of hearing loss will increase your likelihood of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Manage Tinnitus
Tinnitus has no cure. However, your symptoms can be minimized and your life can be improved by wearing hearing aids to treat your hearing loss and tinnitus. As a matter of fact, one study showed that as much as 60 percent of people suffering from tinnitus saw relief when they wore hearing aids, with 22 percent showing significant relief.
When you can suddenly hear outside sounds better because hearing aids have boosted the volume, your tinnitus symptoms will go into the background. And, fortunately, conventional hearing aids aren’t the only solution as more sophisticated treatment methods are being produced.
Tinnitus Symptoms Will be Decreased by These Types of Specialty Hearing Aids
Hearing aids work by gathering natural sounds from the world around you and amplifying them to a level that lets you hear. Although it might be simple in design, that amplification of sound, be it the rabble of a dinner party or the rattle 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 methods, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Fractal tones and irregular rhythms are even being used by some hearing aid makers. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the persistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Other specialty devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. This approach will generally utilize a white noise signal that a hearing expert can adjust to ensure correct calibration for your ear and your condition.
Whether you use sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized technologies have a common goal of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
It’s true that there isn’t any cure for tinnitus, but for at least some individuals, hearing aids help lessen symptoms and improve your quality of life.
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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