The cause of tinnitus, a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears, has long puzzled scientists. However, there is one thing that all hearing professionals 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 it might seem like the symptoms of hearing loss would be fairly obvious, when it’s still in the early phases, it frequently goes undetected. Still worse, even a mild case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help address the symptoms
Tinnitus can’t be cured. 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 dealing with tinnitus is often in sync with the type of hearing loss that person encounters. For instance, a person who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus may suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. The idea is that the brain tries to compensate for the missing frequencies by creating tinnitus sounds in the same frequency range.
A traditional hearing aid can essentially hide the ringing or buzzing connected with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. The good news is, there are other, more advanced solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms produced by tinnitus.
Decrease symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids work by picking up natural sounds from the environment around you and amplifying them to a level that allows you to hear. Even though it may 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 particular stimulations once more.
But you can improve those amplification efforts with a blend of other strategies like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more extensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers endeavor to reduce tinnitus symptoms by using irregular rhythms of fractal tones. Tinnitus sufferers typically hear tones that are constant and regular which can sometimes be interrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. While white noise devices are available, the most common fractal tones are similar to wind chimes that provide a soothing sound that drowns out the ringing.
Other specialty devices attempt to mix your tinnitus in with the environmental sounds you’re hearing. A white noise generator will be used in this approach, which can be fine-tuned by a hearing specialist to help reduce your particular tinnitus symptoms..
The common goal of these strategies is to help the user ignore tinnitus symptoms whether it’s through the use of white noise mechanisms, sound therapy, or blending.
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 present an alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and live a better quality of life.
Want to talk about your tinnitus with a hearing professional?
If you’re struggling with ringing or buzzing in the ears, take a look at our tinnitus section for more information on ways to minimize symptoms.
