Scientists still haven’t identified the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. Hearing specialists, however, do agree that tinnitus is more prevalent in people who also have hearing loss.
As you probably know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all contribute to the development of hearing loss. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor 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 manage the symptoms
Tinnitus can’t be cured. However, hearing loss and tinnitus symptoms can be improved along with quality of life by using hearing aids. There are some pretty remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, in fact.
The frequency range that a person loses hearing in is usually in sync with the pitch of their tinnitus symptoms. As an example, if somebody has hearing loss in the high-frequency range, they will often hear a high-pitched ringing from tinnitus. Some people believe this parallel to be a consequence of the brain trying to compensate for a lack of acoustic stimulation at that level by generating a similarly pitched tone of its own.
A traditional hearing aid can effectively hide the ringing or buzzing associated with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. Here’s the good thing, there are other, more advanced solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms produced by tinnitus.
Reduce symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids work by picking up natural sounds from your environment 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 essential in teaching your brain to receive particular stimulations again.
But you can improve those amplification efforts with a mix of other strategies like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more complete approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. The ringing is overwhelmed by soothing, wind chime-like sounds produced by the most prevalent fractal tones rather than simple white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Blending natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the aim of other specialized devices. This approach 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 objective of these approaches is to help the user disregard tinnitus symptoms whether it’s by employing white noise systems, sound therapy, or blending.
It’s true that there is no cure for tinnitus, but for at least some of the 50 million dealing with the condition, hearing aids present an alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
For more information on decreasing tinnitus symptoms, take a look at our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.
