The cause of tinnitus, a continual ringing or buzzing in the ears, has long baffled scientists. 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 contribute to the development of hearing loss. And while many individuals think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some mild hearing loss can go unnoticed. Unfortunately, your risk of experiencing hearing loss increases with even minor cases of hearing loss.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help treat the symptoms
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can reduce symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. In fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are fairly remarkable.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing one hears when dealing with tinnitus is typically in sync with the type of hearing loss that person encounters. For instance, somebody who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus might suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. Some individuals believe this parallel to be a consequence of the brain attempting to compensate for a lack of acoustic activation at that level by generating a similarly pitched tone of its own.
A traditional hearing aid can effectively hide the ringing or buzzing connected with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. The good news is, 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 might 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 experience particular stimulations once more.
But you can enhance those amplification efforts with a mix of other methods like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more extensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers attempt 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. The ringing is drowned out by soothing, wind chime-like sounds produced by the most common fractal tones rather than basic white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Mixing natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the goal of other specialized devices. This strategy will generally utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
The common intent of these methods is to help the user disregard tinnitus symptoms whether it’s by employing white noise systems, sound therapy, or blending.
Though tinnitus has no cure, hearing aids can help decrease the severity of the symptoms and enhance 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 reduce symptoms.