Scientists still haven’t determined the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. Hearing specialists, however, do agree that tinnitus is more prevalent in people who also have hearing loss.
As you probably know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all contribute to the development of hearing loss. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some minor hearing loss can go undetected. Still worse, even a mild case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of experiencing tinnitus.
It’s not a cure, but hearing aids can help manage tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and enhance one’s quality of life. There are some pretty remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, as a matter of fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing one hears when dealing with tinnitus is often in sync with the type of hearing loss that person has. As an example, if someone has hearing loss in the high-frequency range, they will usually hear a high-pitched ringing from tinnitus. Some individuals believe this parallel to be a consequence of the brain trying to compensate for a lack of acoustic stimulation at that level by producing a similarly pitched tone of its own.
Tinnitus sounds can be effectively “masked” by a hearing aid which can drown out the offending sound and replace it with one that’s supposed to be heard. Here’s the good thing, there are other, more advanced options beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Specialized hearing aids to decrease tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids work by collecting natural sounds from the environment around you and boosting them to a level that allows you to hear. Even though it may be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the din of a dinner party or the rattling of a ceiling fan, is essential in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
But other combinations of strategies like sound stimulation, counseling, and decreasing stress can also be used to improve those amplification efforts and supply a more comprehensive treatment approach.
Some manufacturers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. While white noise devices are available, the most prevalent fractal tones sound somewhat like wind chimes that supply a soothing sound that overwhelms the ringing.
Mixing natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the aim of other specialized devices. A white noise generator will be used in this approach, which can be calibrated by a hearing specialist to help reduce your specific tinnitus symptoms..
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, each of these specialized devices has a common goal of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
It’s true that tinnitus can’t be cured, but for at least some of the 50 million suffering from the condition, hearing aids provide an alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and live a better quality of life.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
For more info on reducing tinnitus symptoms, take a look at our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.
