It’s often unclear what’s causing 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 rises. Up to 90 percent 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. And while many individuals think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some minor hearing loss can go unnoticed. Even mild cases of hearing loss will raise your chance of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Manage Tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids will help you manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can reduce symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. As a matter of fact, one study revealed that as much as 60 percent of people suffering from tinnitus experienced relief when they wore hearing aids, with 22 percent showing appreciable relief.
A traditional hearing aid can essentially hide the ringing or buzzing caused by tinnitus by improving your ability to hear outside sounds, which essentially drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, traditional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more sophisticated treatment methods are being produced.
Types of Specialty Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids work by collecting natural sounds from the world around you and amplifying them to a level that allows you to hear. Although it might be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the hum of a dinner party or the clank of a ceiling fan, is crucial in training your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
You can augment those amplification efforts by the combination of other strategies, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid makers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to reduce the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the constant and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Blending the normal sounds you hear with your tinnitus sounds is the goal of other advanced hearing aid options. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this strategy will use a personalized white noise that will be calibrated by your hearing professional.
All of these approaches, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, use specialized hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from focusing on tinnitus noises.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and decrease 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