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 most likely know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all play a role in the development of hearing loss. And while it may seem as if the symptoms of hearing loss would be fairly obvious, when it’s still in the early stages, it frequently goes undetected. Unfortunately, your risk of experiencing hearing loss increases with even slight cases of hearing loss.
It isn’t a cure, but hearing aids can help manage tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. In fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are pretty remarkable.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing a person hears when coping with tinnitus is typically in sync with the type of hearing loss that person encounters. For instance, a person who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus may suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. The concept is that the brain tries to compensate for the missing frequencies by producing tinnitus sounds in the same frequency range.
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. Luckily, tinnitus symptoms can be managed in other more advanced ways than traditional hearing aids.
Reduce symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids detect environmental sounds and amplify frequencies you have trouble hearing. Even though it might be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the din of a dinner party or the rattle of a ceiling fan, is critical in training your brain to receive certain stimulations once more.
But other combinations of strategies like sound stimulation, counseling, and reducing stress can also be used to improve those amplification efforts and supply a more complete treatment approach.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. The ringing is overwhelmed by pleasant, wind chime-like sounds produced by the most prevalent fractal tones instead of simple white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Other specialty devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the environmental sounds you’re hearing. This approach will generally utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can program to ensure accurate calibration for your ear and your condition.
The common intent of these methods is to help the user disregard tinnitus symptoms whether it’s through the use of white noise mechanisms, sound therapy, or blending.
It’s true that tinnitus can’t be cured, but for at least some of the 50 million dealing with the condition, hearing aids provide an attractive possibility to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
For more information on decreasing tinnitus symptoms, check out our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.