Scientists still haven’t pinpointed 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 play a role in the progression of hearing loss. And while it may seem as if the symptoms of hearing loss would be rather obvious, when it’s still in the early stages, it frequently goes unnoticed. Unfortunately, your risk of experiencing hearing loss increases with even minor cases of hearing loss.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help treat the symptoms
Tinnitus can’t be cured. However, hearing loss and tinnitus symptoms can be improved as well as quality of life by using hearing aids. In fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are fairly remarkable.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing a person hears when dealing with tinnitus is normally in sync with the type of hearing loss that person has. For instance, a person who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus might suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. Some individuals believe this parallel to be a consequence of the brain attempting to compensate for a lack of acoustic activation at that level by generating a similarly pitched tone of its own.
A traditional hearing aid can effectively hide the ringing or buzzing connected with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. Here’s the good thing, there are other, more advanced options beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Lessen symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids work by picking up natural sounds from the environment around you and amplifying them to a level that allows you to hear. Even though it might be simple in design, that amplification of noise, whether it’s the hum of a dinner party or the rattling of a ceiling fan, is crucial in training your brain to experience particular stimulations once more.
But you can enhance those amplification endeavors with a combination of other techniques like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers attempt to decrease tinnitus symptoms with the use of the irregular rhythms of fractal tones. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are constant and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. The ringing is drowned out by soothing, wind chime-like sounds generated by the most common fractal tones instead of basic white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Other specialty devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the outside sounds you’re hearing. This strategy will generally utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
The common goal of these strategies is to help the user ignore tinnitus symptoms whether it’s by employing white noise systems, sound therapy, or blending.
Though tinnitus has no cure, hearing aids can help reduce the intensity of the symptoms and improve quality of life, which is an alluring feature for the 50 million people who use hearing aids.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
If you’re experiencing ringing or buzzing in the ears, take a look at our tinnitus section for more information on ways to reduce symptoms.