It’s often unclear what’s triggering tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing in your ears). But one thing we know for sure is that if you have hearing loss your chance of developing tinnitus goes up. Up to 90 percent of people who experience tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
Your age, lifestyle, and genetics can all play a role in the development of hearing loss as you most likely know. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor hearing loss can go unnoticed. Even slight cases of hearing loss will raise your likelihood of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Treat Tinnitus
Tinnitus doesn’t have a cure. However, your symptoms can be reduced and your life can be improved by wearing hearing aids to address your hearing loss and tinnitus. As a matter of fact, one study revealed that up to 60 percent of people suffering from tinnitus experienced relief when they wore hearing aids, with 22 percent showing considerable relief.
When you can suddenly hear outside sounds better because hearing aids have raised the volume, your tinnitus symptoms will be drowned out. And, fortunately, traditional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more advanced treatment possibilities are being produced.
Tinnitus Symptoms Will be Reduced by These Types of Specialized Hearing Aids
Hearing aids increase the volume of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. This simple technology is crucial in teaching your hearing to receive certain stimulation by boosting sounds like the clattering of a ceiling fan or the rabble of a dinner party.
You can augment those amplification efforts by the combination of other strategies, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid makers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to minimize the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the constant and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Other specialized devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the normal sounds you’re hearing. This approach will commonly use a white noise signal that a hearing professional can adjust to guarantee proper calibration for your ear and your disorder.
Whether you use sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized technologies have a common aim of distracting the attention away from the buzzing or ringing of tinnitus.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of tinnitus even if there isn’t any 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