Tinnitus & Hearing Aids

Tinnitus can take a variety of forms (ringing, buzzing, hissing, etc.), and people with this condition can agree that this phenomenon is quite annoying, at best. Overall, it’s unclear what causes tinnitus, and experts agree that you are more likely to experience tinnitus in tandem with a hearing loss. HLAA states that upwards of 90% of people who have tinnitus also have hearing loss.

Many factors (age, lifestyle, genetics, etc.) can play into developing hearing loss, but specifically for mild hearing loss, it can go undetected. This increases your chance of developing tinnitus quite a bit.

There’s No Cure for Tinnitus, but Hearing Aids can Help

As of now, tinnitus has no cure. However, hearing aids are what helps manage both tinnitus and hearing loss in ways that soothe the symptoms of tinnitus and improve quality of life. According to a study, upwards of 60% of tinnitus patients experienced relief when using hearing aids, and 22% confirmed substantial relief.

When you can hear environmental sounds better using hearing aids to address your hearing loss, the tinnitus symptoms will be drowned out.

Another bonus is you won’t necessarily need traditional hearing aids to address your tinnitus, you could get into devices specialized for tinnitus.

Specialized Approach to Address Tinnitus

Hearing aids address hearing loss and give you increased volume where you need it. This technology is crucial in retraining the brain to hear your environment clearly and give your brain the stimulation it needs. In addition to the hearing aids improving your hearing and decreasing your tinnitus, your provider can install targeted tinnitus programs and therapies in your hearing aids as well. These programs and therapies often come in the form of intermittent fractal tones, white noise, ocean wave noises, or others. 

By blending normal environmental noise with these specific sounds targeted around the frequencies that you experience tinnitus, we are giving your brain the tools it needs to perform and diminish the sound of tinnitus and attract attention away from the tinnitus.

To further enhance your approach to tinnitus, it is helpful to look at lifestyle factors that contribute to tinnitus. Factors include fatigue, stress, sodium intake, caffeine intake, alcohol intake, and dehydration.

If tinnitus is not improved by addressing these factors, there are counselors that specialize in tinnitus as well.

& Remember, 50 million Americans suffer from tinnitus.. you are not alone.

References

https://www.hearingloss.org/wpcontent/uploads/HLAA_HearingLoss_Facts_Statistics.pdf?pdf=FactStats

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17956798

https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatmentoptions/hearing-aids https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6197965