The cause of tinnitus, a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears, has long perplexed scientists. 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 primary factors that contribute to hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while many individuals think of hearing loss as being obvious, the truth is that some minor hearing loss can go unobserved. Still 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 address the symptoms
There is no cure for tinnitus. However, hearing loss and tinnitus symptoms can be improved along with quality of life by using hearing aids. There are some rather remarkable similarities between tinnitus and hearing loss, in fact.
The frequency range that a person loses hearing in is usually in sync with the pitch of their tinnitus symptoms. For example, somebody who hears high-pitched ringing from tinnitus might suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. Some individuals believe this parallel to be a result of the brain trying to compensate for a lack of acoustic activation at that level by generating a similarly pitched tone of its own.
A traditional hearing aid can effectively hide the ringing or buzzing connected with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. Luckily, tinnitus symptoms can be treated in other more advanced ways than traditional hearing aids.
Decrease symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids work by gathering natural sounds from your environment and boosting 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 din of a dinner party.
But other combinations of methods like sound stimulation, counseling, and reducing stress can also be utilized to improve 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. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are consistent and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. While white noise devices are available, the most common fractal tones sound somewhat like wind chimes that provide a pleasant sound that drowns out the ringing.
Mixing natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the goal of other specialized devices. This strategy will generally use a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure correct calibration for your ear and your condition.
The common objective of these methods is to help the user disregard tinnitus symptoms whether it’s by employing white noise systems, sound therapy, or blending.
Though tinnitus can’t be cured, hearing aids can help decrease the intensity 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 struggling with ringing or buzzing in the ears, take a look at our tinnitus section for more information on ways to decrease symptoms.
