The cause of tinnitus, a constant buzzing or ringing in the ears, is often unclear. But one thing we know for certain is that if you have hearing loss your chance of experiencing tinnitus goes up. According to HLAA as much as 90 percent of individuals who are dealing with tinnitus also have hearing loss.
As you most likely know, your genetics, age, and lifestyle can all be involved in the advancement of hearing loss. Frequently, mild instances of hearing loss go undetected and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always apparent. Even minor cases of hearing loss will increase your chance of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Treat Tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, your symptoms can be minimized and your life can be improved by wearing hearing aids to treat your hearing loss and tinnitus. In fact, one study showed that up to 60 percent of tinnitus patients experienced relief when they wore hearing aids, with 22 percent showing considerable relief.
When you can suddenly hear external sounds better because hearing aids have boosted the volume, your tinnitus symptoms will be drowned out. The good news is that there are other, more advanced solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Types of Specialty Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids work by collecting natural sounds from the world around you and boosting them to a level that lets you hear. This simple technology is crucial in teaching your hearing to receive specific stimulation by amplifying sounds like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the hum of a dinner party.
You can augment those amplification efforts by the combination of other approaches, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to minimize the symptoms of tinnitus. The constant 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. This approach will generally use a white noise signal that a hearing expert can adjust to ensure correct calibration for your ear and your condition.
Whether you use sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized technologies have a common objective of distracting the attention away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and lessen symptoms of tinnitus even if there isn’t any 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