It’s often not clear what’s triggering tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in your ears). But one thing we know for sure is that if you have hearing loss your chance of experiencing tinnitus goes up. Up to 90% of people who are afflicted by tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
Your lifestyle, age, and genetics can all take part in the development of hearing loss as you probably know. Often, moderate cases of hearing loss go unnoticed and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always evident. Worse, even a minor case of hearing loss raises your risk and probability of developing tinnitus.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Treat Tinnitus
Tinnitus has no cure. However, your symptoms can be minimized and your life can be improved by wearing hearing aids to address your hearing loss and tinnitus. In fact, one study revealed that as much as 60 percent of people suffering from tinnitus saw relief when they used hearing aids, with 22 percent showing significant relief.
A conventional hearing aid can basically hide the ringing or buzzing caused by tinnitus by improving your ability to hear outside sounds, which effectively drowns out the ringing. The good news is that there are other, more sophisticated solutions beyond just conventional hearing aids to treat the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Types of Specialty Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids work by gathering natural sounds from the world around you and amplifying them to a level that lets you hear. This basic technology is crucial in training your hearing to receive certain stimulation by amplifying sounds like the clattering of a ceiling fan or the hum of a dinner party.
You can take an even more comprehensive approach to your tinnitus treatment by enhancing hearing aids with other techniques, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
Fractal tones and irregular rhythms are even being used by some hearing aid makers. The constant tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the irregular tones of these inconsistent rhythms.
Other specialized devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the normal sounds you’re hearing. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this approach will use a customized white noise that will be calibrated by your hearing professional.
All of these strategies, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, use specialized hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from paying attention to tinnitus noises.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and lessen 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