Scientists still haven’t determined the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. However, there is one thing that all hearing specialists agree on, you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also cope with hearing loss.
As you probably know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all play a role in the progression of hearing loss. And while it might seem as if the symptoms of hearing loss would be rather obvious, when it’s still in the early phases, 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
Tinnitus can’t be cured. However, hearing aids can manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can decrease symptoms and enhance one’s quality of life. In fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are fairly remarkable.
The frequency range that a person loses hearing in is typically in sync with the pitch of their tinnitus symptoms. For instance, someone 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 creating 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 options beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms produced by tinnitus.
Lessen symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids work by collecting natural sounds from the environment around you and amplifying them to a level that allows you to hear. 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 critical in teaching your brain to experience certain stimulations once more.
But you can improve those amplification endeavors with a mix of other methods like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can detract from the constant and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear. The ringing is overwhelmed by pleasant, wind chime-like sounds generated by the most prevalent fractal tones rather than basic 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 use a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can program to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise system, each of these specialized devices has a common aim of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Though tinnitus has no cure, hearing aids can help reduce the intensity of the symptoms and improve quality of life, which is an attractive feature for the 50 million people who use hearing aids.
Want to discuss your tinnitus with a hearing specialist?
If you’re experiencing ringing or buzzing in the ears, check out our tinnitus section for more information on ways to decrease symptoms.