It’s often unclear what’s triggering tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in your ears). But one thing we know for certain is that if you have hearing loss your probability of experiencing tinnitus rises. Up to 90% of people who suffer from tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
As you probably realize, your genetics, age, and lifestyle can all play a role in the advancement of hearing loss. And while many people think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor hearing loss can go undetected. Even mild cases of hearing loss will raise your chance of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
Hearing Aids Won’t Cure Tinnitus But They Can Help
There is no cure for tinnitus. 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, saw relief of their symptoms, and twenty-two had significant improvement.
A conventional hearing aid can essentially hide the buzzing or ringing 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 solution as more sophisticated treatment possibilities are being produced.
Tinnitus Symptoms Will be Reduced by These Types of Specialized Hearing Aids
Hearing aids work by collecting natural sounds from the environment around you and boosting them to a level that lets you hear. Even though it might be basic 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 enhance those amplification efforts by the combination of other methods, 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 minimize the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the persistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers experience.
Other specialty devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. 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 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, hearing aids help reduce symptoms and improve your quality of life.
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