Scientists still haven’t identified 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 suffer from hearing loss.
Some of the principal factors that contribute to hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while many people think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor hearing loss can go undetected. Worse, even a mild case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
It isn’t a cure, but hearing aids can help manage tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can reduce symptoms and enhance one’s quality of life. There are some rather remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, as a matter of fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing a person hears when coping with tinnitus is typically in sync with the type of hearing loss that person has. For instance, someone 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 generating tinnitus sounds in the same frequency range.
A traditional hearing aid can effectively hide the ringing or buzzing associated 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 manage the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Specialized hearing aids to lessen tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids detect environmental sounds and boost frequencies you can’t hear very well. Even though hearing aids have a simple concept, they help teach your brain to receive particular stimulation again by boosting noises like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the buzz of a dinner party.
But you can improve those amplification efforts with a blend of other methods like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to lessen the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can detract from the constant and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear. While white noise devices are available, the most prevalent fractal tones sound somewhat like wind chimes that supply a soothing sound that drowns out the ringing.
Blending natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the aim of other specialized devices. A white noise generator will be used in this approach, which can be fine-tuned by a hearing specialist to help reduce 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 tinnitus can’t be cured, but for at least some of the 50 million dealing with the condition, hearing aids provide an attractive possibility to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
Want to talk about your tinnitus with a hearing specialist?
For more information on decreasing tinnitus symptoms, check out our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.
