Tinnitus has been around for a long time. But perhaps it’s new to you, like a loud used car you can’t take back. Usually, though not always, tinnitus presents as an incessant ringing or buzzing in the ears. Often, the sound is really intense. Symptoms fluctuate significantly, but here’s the point: you are probably searching for new ways of coping with your tinnitus if it’s something that’s bothering you.
In that, you’re in luck because while tinnitus doesn’t yet have an overall cure, there are a few new therapies that can help you manage symptoms. Your tongue is even involved in certain of those treatments.
The Most Recent Way to Manage Tinnitus
Possibly the most novel tinnitus treatment to hit our radar appears to offer quite a bit of promise, even if it appears a little strange initially. This device, developed at the Trinity College School of Medicine in Dublin, stimulates both the ear and the tongue. The technical term is bi-modal neuromodulation.
Based on the first tests of this device, the results were rather impressive. Most individuals received treatments for a duration of twelve weeks or so. Within those 12 months, those same individuals noticed a dramatic decrease in tinnitus symptoms. But until the testing phase is finished it won’t be publicly available.
What Can I do Now to Find Tinnitus Relief?
Naturally, it takes a while for technology to go from research and development to patient accessibility. So perhaps you’re curious about what you can do now to help deal with your tinnitus.
There are, fortunately, some tinnitus management devices that has recently come onto the market. And one of the best new methods of managing tinnitus is something you’ve probably already heard of: your hearing aid.
Here’s how it works:
Your hearing aid can give you something else to listen to. One reason why tinnitus is more obvious as your hearing wanes is that the stays loud while everything else gets quieter. A hearing aid can raise the volume on the rest of the audio spectrum. By increasing the volume of external sounds, your tinnitus sounds will often vanish into the background.
Your hearing aid can mask the noise. A masking device may be the way to go if your hearing loss is minor. A masking device essentially looks like a hearing aid. And masking technology can be incorporated into modern hearing aids. This technology will emit sounds specially designed to mask your tinnitus symptoms. Whatever sound will best mask the ringing in your ears will be used, it may be a specific tone or even white noise.
Of course, this is just a starting point. We can help you find the best choice for you so get in touch with us.