The cause of tinnitus, a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears, is often ambiguous. However, there is one thing researchers agree on: you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also are afflicted by hearing loss. According to HLAA up to 90 percent of individuals who have tinnitus also have hearing loss.
As you most likely know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all play a role in the advancement of hearing loss. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor hearing loss can go unnoticed. Even mild 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 Manage Tinnitus
Tinnitus doesn’t have a cure. However, hearing aids will treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. As a matter of fact, one study confirmed that up to 60 percent of tinnitus patients saw relief when they wore hearing aids, with 22 percent showing substantial 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 options beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Types of Specialized 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 allows you to hear. This simple technology is critical in training your hearing to receive certain stimulation by boosting sounds like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the rabble of a dinner party.
You can take an even more comprehensive approach to your tinnitus management by augmenting hearing aids with other techniques, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
Some hearing aid makers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the consistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Blending the natural sounds you hear with your tinnitus sounds is the objective of other advanced hearing aid options. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this technique will use a customized white noise that will need to be calibrated.
All of these strategies, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, use hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from paying attention to tinnitus noises.
It’s true that there isn’t any cure for tinnitus, but for at least some, hearing aids help reduce symptoms and improve your quality of life.
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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