Scientists still haven’t pinpointed the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. However, there is one thing that all hearing specialists agree on, you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also suffer from hearing loss.
As you most likely know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all contribute to the progression of hearing loss. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some mild hearing loss can go unobserved. Worse, even a slight case of hearing loss increases your risk and likelihood of experiencing tinnitus.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help manage the symptoms
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can reduce symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. There are some rather remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, as a matter of fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing a person hears when dealing with tinnitus is usually in sync with the type of hearing loss that person encounters. As an example, if somebody has hearing loss in the high-frequency range, they will often hear a high-pitched ringing from tinnitus. Some people believe this parallel to be a result of the brain attempting 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.
Reduce symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids pick up environmental sounds and amplify frequencies you have trouble hearing. 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 training your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
But other combinations of methods like sound stimulation, counseling, and minimizing stress can also be used to improve those amplification efforts and provide a more complete treatment approach.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus sufferers typically hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be interrupted 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 provide a soothing sound that drowns out the ringing.
Blending natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the objective 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 system, each of these specialized devices has a common aim of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Though tinnitus has no cure, hearing aids can help decrease 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 struggling with ringing or buzzing in the ears, take a look at our tinnitus section for more information on ways to decrease symptoms.