It’s generally not clear what’s causing tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in your ears). However, there is one thing experts agree on: you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also are afflicted by hearing loss. According to HLAA as much as 90 percent of people who are dealing with tinnitus also have hearing loss.
Your lifestyle, age, and genetics can all take part in the development of hearing loss as you most likely know. And while many individuals think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some minor hearing loss can go unnoticed. Even worse, even a minor case of hearing loss increases your risk and probability of developing tinnitus.
Hearing Aids Won’t Cure Tinnitus But They Can Help
Tinnitus doesn’t have a cure. However, hearing aids will help you manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. Sixty percent of people coping with tinnitus, in fact, saw relief of their symptoms, and twenty-two had significant improvement.
When you can suddenly hear outside sounds better because hearing aids have raised the volume, your tinnitus symptoms will be drowned out. The good news is that there are other, more advanced options beyond just conventional hearing aids to treat the symptoms linked to tinnitus.
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 amplifying them to a level that lets you hear. Even though it might be basic in design, that amplification of noise, be it the rabble of a dinner party or the clank of a ceiling fan, is crucial in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
You can take an even more comprehensive 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. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the constant and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Other specialty devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. This strategy will commonly use a white noise signal that a hearing professional can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your disorder.
All of these approaches, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, utilize specialized hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from focusing on tinnitus noises.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and decrease symptoms of tinnitus even if there is no cure.
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