The cause of tinnitus, a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears, is often ambiguous. However, there is one thing researchers agree on: you are more likely to develop tinnitus if you also are suffering from hearing loss. According to HLAA as much as 90 percent of people who experience tinnitus also have hearing loss.
Your age, lifestyle, and genetics can all take part in the development of hearing loss as you probably know. And while many individuals think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some mild hearing loss can go unnoticed. Even worse, even a minor case of hearing loss increases your risk and probability of developing tinnitus.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Treat Tinnitus
Tinnitus doesn’t have a cure. However, your symptoms can be decreased 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, saw relief of their symptoms, and twenty-two had substantial improvement.
A conventional hearing aid can basically hide the buzzing or ringing caused by tinnitus by strengthening your ability to hear outside sounds, which basically drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, traditional hearing aids aren’t the only solution as more sophisticated treatment methods are being produced.
Types of Specialty Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids boost the volume of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. Although it might be basic in design, that amplification of noise, be it the rabble of a dinner party or the rattle of a ceiling fan, is crucial in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
You can take an even more complete approach to your tinnitus management by augmenting hearing aids with other strategies, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
Fractal tones and irregular rhythms are even being utilized by some hearing aid manufacturers. The consistent tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the uneven tones of these inconsistent rhythms.
Blending the normal sounds you hear with your tinnitus sounds is the objective of other sophisticated hearing aid options. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this strategy will use a customized white noise that will be dialed-in by your hearing professional.
Whether you use sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized devices have a common objective of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of tinnitus even if there is no cure.
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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