It’s generally unclear what’s triggering tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in your ears). But one thing we know for certain is that if you have hearing loss your chance of experiencing tinnitus goes up. Up to 90 percent of individuals who experience tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
Your lifestyle, age, and genetics can all play a role in the development of hearing loss as you most likely know. Often, mild cases of hearing loss go unnoticed and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always apparent. Even mild cases of hearing loss will increase your chance of tinnitus, making the situation even worse.
Hearing Aids Won’t Cure Tinnitus But They Can Help
There isn’t a cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can help you manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can reduce symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. As a matter of 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 considerable relief.
A conventional hearing aid can essentially hide the ringing or buzzing caused by tinnitus by improving your ability to hear outside sounds, which basically drowns out the ringing. The good news is that there are other, more advanced options beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms linked to tinnitus.
Types of Specialized Hearing Aids to Lessen Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids boost the level of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. Although it may be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the rabble of a dinner party or the clank of a ceiling fan, is critical in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
You can enhance those amplification efforts by the combination of other approaches, like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Fractal tones and irregular rhythms are even being used by some hearing aid makers. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can distract from the persistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear.
Blending the natural sounds you hear with your tinnitus sounds is the objective of other sophisticated hearing aid options. This approach will commonly use a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
All of these strategies, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, use specialized hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from paying attention to tinnitus noises.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and decrease 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