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 development of hearing loss. And while many people think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some slight hearing loss can go undetected. Worse, even a minor case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of experiencing tinnitus.
It isn’t 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 decrease symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. As a matter of fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are rather remarkable.
The frequency range that a person loses hearing in is typically in sync with the pitch of their tinnitus symptoms. For instance, somebody 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.
Tinnitus sounds can be effectively “masked” by a hearing aid which can drown out the offending sound and replace it with one that’s supposed to be heard. Luckily, tinnitus symptoms can be treated in other more advanced ways than traditional hearing aids.
Decrease symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids pick up environmental sounds and boost frequencies you have trouble hearing. Even though it might be simple in design, that amplification of noise, whether it’s the hum of a dinner party or the rattling of a ceiling fan, is critical in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations once more.
But you can improve those amplification endeavors with a blend of other strategies like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more extensive approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even use the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to lessen the symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus sufferers typically hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be interrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. While white noise devices are available, the most prevalent fractal tones sound somewhat like wind chimes that supply a pleasant sound that drowns out the ringing.
Mixing natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the goal of other specialized devices. A white noise generator will be used in this approach, which can be calibrated by a hearing specialist to help decrease your specific tinnitus symptoms..
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise system, 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 dealing with the condition, hearing aids present an attractive 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.