Scientists still haven’t pinpointed the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. 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.
As you probably know, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all contribute to the progression 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 mild cases of hearing loss.
It isn’t a cure, but hearing aids can help treat tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing loss and tinnitus symptoms can be improved as well as quality of life by using hearing aids. As a matter of fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are fairly remarkable.
The frequency range that a person loses hearing in is typically in sync with the pitch of their tinnitus symptoms. As an example, if someone has hearing loss in the high-frequency range, they will frequently hear a high-pitched ringing from tinnitus. The idea is that the brain tries to compensate for the missing frequencies by generating 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. Fortunately, tinnitus symptoms can be treated in other more advanced ways than traditional hearing aids.
Specialized hearing aids to lessen tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids detect environmental sounds and amplify frequencies you can’t hear very well. Even though hearing aids have a simple concept, they help train your brain to receive certain stimulation again by boosting noises like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the din of a dinner party.
But you can improve those amplification endeavors with a mix of other methods like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress reduction for a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers attempt to decrease tinnitus symptoms with the use of the irregular rhythms of fractal tones. These rhythmically inconsistent tones can detract from the constant and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear. The ringing is overwhelmed by pleasant, wind chime-like sounds generated by the most common fractal tones instead of basic white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Other specialized devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the outside sounds you’re hearing. This approach will typically utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
The common aim of these strategies is to help the user disregard tinnitus symptoms whether it’s through the use of white noise mechanisms, sound therapy, or blending.
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 alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.
Want to talk about your tinnitus with a hearing professional?
For more information on reducing tinnitus symptoms, check out our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.
