The cause of tinnitus, a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears, is often unclear. However, there is one thing experts agree on: you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also are afflicted by hearing loss. Up to 90 percent of people who are afflicted by tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
Your age, lifestyle, and genetics can all play a role in the development of hearing loss as you probably know. Often, moderate cases of hearing loss go unnoticed and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always evident. Even mild cases of hearing loss will raise your chance 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 reduced and your life can be improved by using hearing aids to treat 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.
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, traditional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more advanced treatment possibilities are being produced.
Types of Specialized Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids boost the level of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. Although it might be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the hum 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 approaches, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Fractal tones and irregular rhythms are even being utilized by some hearing aid manufacturers. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the persistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Other specialized devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. This approach will generally use a white noise signal that a hearing professional can adjust to guarantee correct calibration for your ear and your disorder.
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized devices have a common goal of distracting the attention 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 decrease 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