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 chance of experiencing tinnitus goes up. According to HLAA up to 90 percent of people who are dealing with 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 of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some minor hearing loss can go undetected. Even worse, even a slight case of hearing loss increases your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
Hearing Aids Won’t Cure Tinnitus But They Will Help
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, your symptoms can be minimized and your life can be improved by wearing hearing aids to manage your hearing loss and tinnitus. In fact, one study showed that as much as 60 percent of tinnitus patients experienced relief when they wore hearing aids, with 22 percent showing considerable relief.
A traditional hearing aid can basically hide the ringing or buzzing associated with tinnitus by improving your ability to hear other sounds, which basically drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, conventional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more sophisticated treatment possibilities are being produced.
Tinnitus Symptoms Will be Decreased by These Types of Specialized Hearing Aids
Hearing aids work by gathering natural sounds from the world around you and boosting them to a level that lets you hear. Although it might be basic in design, that amplification of noise, be it the hum of a dinner party or the clank of a ceiling fan, is critical in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
You can take an even more complete approach to your tinnitus management by enhancing hearing aids with other strategies, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
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 experience.
Other specialized devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this strategy will use a personalized white noise that will be calibrated by your hearing specialist.
All of these approaches, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, use 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
