The cause of tinnitus, a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears, has long perplexed scientists. However, there is one thing that all hearing professionals agree on, you are more likely to experience tinnitus if you also cope with hearing loss.
As you most likely know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all contribute to the progression of hearing loss. And while it may seem like the symptoms of hearing loss would be rather obvious, when it’s still in the early phases, it often goes unnoticed. Worse, even a slight case of hearing loss increases your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help treat the symptoms
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing aids can manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. In fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are pretty remarkable.
The frequency range that a person loses hearing in is usually 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 concept is that the brain tries to compensate for the missing frequencies by producing 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. Here’s the good thing, there are other, more advanced options beyond just traditional hearing aids to treat the symptoms produced by tinnitus.
Specialized hearing aids to lessen tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids work by collecting natural sounds from your environment and amplifying them to a level that allows you to hear. Even though hearing aids have a simple concept, they help train your brain to experience certain stimulation again by amplifying noises like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the buzz of a dinner party.
But other combinations of methods like sound stimulation, counseling, and minimizing stress can also be used to enhance those amplification efforts and provide a more comprehensive treatment approach.
Some hearing aid manufacturers attempt to decrease tinnitus symptoms by using irregular rhythms of fractal tones. These rhythmically irregular tones can detract from the consistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear. While white noise devices are available, the most common fractal tones sound somewhat like wind chimes that provide a pleasant sound that overwhelms the ringing.
Other specialized devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the environmental sounds you’re hearing. This strategy will generally utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure correct 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 objective of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Though tinnitus can’t be cured, hearing aids can help reduce the severity of the symptoms and improve quality of life, which is an attractive feature for the 50 million people who use hearing aids.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
If you’re experiencing ringing or buzzing in the ears, check out our tinnitus section for more information on ways to minimize symptoms.