It’s often unclear what’s triggering tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing in your ears). But one thing we know for certain is that if you have hearing loss your chance of experiencing tinnitus goes up. According to HLAA up to 90 percent of people who have tinnitus also have hearing loss.
Your lifestyle, age, and genetics can all play a role in the development of hearing loss as you probably know. And while many people think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor hearing loss can go undetected. Even slight cases of hearing loss will increase your likelihood of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Treat Tinnitus
There isn’t a cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids will help you manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. In fact, one study confirmed 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 conventional hearing aid can essentially hide the buzzing or ringing caused by tinnitus by strengthening your ability to hear outside sounds, which effectively drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, traditional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more advanced treatment methods are being produced.
Types of Specialty Hearing Aids to Reduce Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids increase the level of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. This simple technology is crucial in training 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 take an even more comprehensive approach to your tinnitus management by augmenting hearing aids with other strategies, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
Some hearing aid makers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to minimize the symptoms of tinnitus. The consistent tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the uneven tones of these inconsistent rhythms.
Other specialized devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. This approach will commonly utilize a white noise signal that a hearing professional can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
All of these strategies, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, utilize 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 lessen symptoms of tinnitus even if there is no cure.
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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