The cause of tinnitus, a continual ringing or buzzing in the ears, has long puzzled scientists. 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.
Some of the main factors that play a role in hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while many people think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some mild hearing loss can go undetected. Still worse, even a minor case of hearing loss increases your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help address the symptoms
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and enhance one’s quality of life. There are some pretty remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, as a matter of fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing one hears when coping with tinnitus is usually in sync with the type of hearing loss that person has. For instance, a person who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus might 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 essentially “masked” by a hearing aid which can drown out the offending sound and replace it with one that’s supposed to be heard. The good news is, there are other, more advanced solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Lessen symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids detect environmental sounds and amplify frequencies you can’t hear very well. Even though hearing aids have a simple concept, they help teach your brain to receive certain stimulation again by amplifying noises like the rattling of a ceiling fan or the buzz of a dinner party.
But other combinations of strategies like sound stimulation, counseling, and reducing stress can also be used to enhance those amplification efforts and provide a more comprehensive treatment approach.
Some hearing aid manufacturers endeavor to reduce tinnitus symptoms with the use of the irregular rhythms of fractal tones. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can detract from the consistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear. While white noise devices are available, the most common fractal tones are similar to wind chimes that provide a pleasant sound that drowns out the ringing.
Blending natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the aim of other specialized devices. A white noise generator will be used in this approach, which can be calibrated by a hearing specialist to help lessen your specific tinnitus symptoms..
The common goal 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.
Though tinnitus can’t be cured, hearing aids can help reduce the severity 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?
For more information on reducing tinnitus symptoms, take a look at our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.