The cause of tinnitus, a constant ringing or buzzing in the ears, is generally unclear. However, there is one thing researchers agree on: you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also suffer from hearing loss. Up to 90 percent of individuals who experience tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.
As you probably know, your genetics, age, and lifestyle can all be involved in the development of hearing loss. Often, moderate cases of hearing loss go undetected and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always obvious. Worse, even a slight case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
It’s Not a Cure, But Hearing Aids Can Help Manage Tinnitus
Tinnitus doesn’t have a cure. However, your symptoms can be decreased and your life can be improved by wearing hearing aids to treat your hearing loss and tinnitus. In fact, one study confirmed that up to 60 percent of tinnitus patients experienced relief when they used hearing aids, with 22 percent showing significant relief.
A traditional hearing aid can essentially hide the ringing or buzzing caused by tinnitus by improving your ability to hear other sounds, which essentially drowns out the ringing. The good news is that there are other, more sophisticated options beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms linked to tinnitus.
Types of Specialized Hearing Aids to Reduce Tinnitus Symptoms
Hearing aids increase the level of environmental sounds to the point that you can hear them clearly. Although it might be basic 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 take an even more comprehensive approach to your tinnitus management by augmenting hearing aids with other strategies, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.
Some hearing aid makers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to minimize the symptoms of tinnitus. The consistent tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the uneven tones of these inconsistent rhythms.
Other specialty devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. This approach will commonly use a white noise signal that a hearing professional can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your disorder.
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, all of these specialized devices have a common objective of distracting the attention away from the buzzing or ringing of tinnitus.
Hearing aids can improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of tinnitus even if there is no 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