Scientists still haven’t identified 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 cope with hearing loss.
Some of the main factors that play a role in hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while many of us think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some slight hearing loss can go undetected. Still worse, even a minor case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.
Hearing aids can’t cure tinnitus, but they can help address the symptoms
Tinnitus can’t be cured. However, hearing aids can manage both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. There are some fairly remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, as a matter of fact.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing one hears when coping with tinnitus is usually in sync with the type of hearing loss that person encounters. As an example, if somebody has hearing loss in the high-frequency range, they will usually hear a high-pitched ringing from tinnitus. Some individuals believe this parallel to be a result of the brain attempting to compensate for a lack of acoustic activation at that level by generating a similarly pitched tone of its own.
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 solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms associated with tinnitus.
Specialized hearing aids to reduce tinnitus symptoms
Hearing aids work by picking up natural sounds from your environment and boosting them to a level that allows you to hear. Even though it might be simple in design, that amplification of noise, whether it’s the din of a dinner party or the rattling of a ceiling fan, is crucial in training your brain to receive particular stimulations again.
But you can improve those amplification endeavors with a mix of other strategies like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress management for a more extensive approach to treatment.
Some hearing aid manufacturers attempt to reduce tinnitus symptoms by using 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 try to blend your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. This strategy will typically utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure accurate 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.
It’s true that tinnitus can’t be cured, but for at least some of the 50 million dealing with the condition, hearing aids present an alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and live a better quality of life.
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.