The cause of tinnitus, a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears, has long baffled scientists. Hearing specialists, however, do agree that tinnitus is more prevalent in people who also have hearing loss.
Some of the principal factors that contribute to hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while it may seem like the symptoms of hearing loss would be fairly obvious, when it’s still in the early stages, it frequently goes undetected. Still worse, even a mild case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of experiencing tinnitus.
It isn’t a cure, but hearing aids can help treat tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can decrease symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. There are some pretty remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, in fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing a person hears when coping with tinnitus is typically in sync with the type of hearing loss that person has. For example, a person who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus might suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. Some individuals believe this parallel to be a result of the brain trying to compensate for a lack of acoustic activation at that level by generating a similarly pitched tone of its own.
A traditional hearing aid can effectively hide the ringing or buzzing associated with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. Fortunately, tinnitus symptoms can be treated in other more advanced ways than traditional hearing aids.
Specialized hearing aids to decrease tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids pick up environmental sounds and amplify frequencies you can’t hear very well. Even though it may 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 experience particular stimulations again.
But you can augment those amplification efforts with a combination of other strategies like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers endeavor to decrease tinnitus symptoms by using irregular rhythms of fractal tones. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. The ringing is drowned out by pleasant, wind chime-like sounds produced by the most prevalent fractal tones rather than simple white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Other specialized devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the environmental sounds you’re hearing. This approach will generally use a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can program to ensure accurate calibration for your ear and your condition.
The common goal of these approaches is to help the user ignore tinnitus symptoms whether it’s through the use of white noise systems, sound therapy, or blending.
It’s true that tinnitus can’t be cured, but for at least some of the 50 million suffering from the condition, hearing aids provide an alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and live a better quality of life.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
If you’re experiencing ringing or buzzing in the ears, check out our tinnitus section for more information on ways to reduce symptoms.
