Can Hearing Aids Ease Tinnitus Symptoms?
Scientists still haven’t determined the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. However, there is one thing that all hearing professionals agree on, you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also cope with hearing loss.
Some of the primary factors that play a role in hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while many individuals think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some slight hearing loss can go unnoticed. Worse, even a mild case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
It’s not a cure, but hearing aids can help treat tinnitus
Tinnitus can’t be cured. 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, in fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing one hears when coping with tinnitus is often in sync with the type of hearing loss that person encounters. For example, 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 manage the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Specialized hearing aids to reduce tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids detect environmental sounds and amplify frequencies you have trouble hearing. Even though hearing aids have a simple concept, they help train your brain to experience particular stimulation again by boosting noises like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the din of a dinner party.
But you can augment those amplification endeavors with a mix of other techniques like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically irregular 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 supply 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 reduce your particular tinnitus symptoms..
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, each of these specialized devices has a common objective of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
It’s true that there is no cure for tinnitus, but for at least some of the 50 million suffering from 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 reducing tinnitus symptoms, check out our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.
The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. To receive personalized advice or treatment, schedule an appointment.
