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 cope with hearing loss.
Some of the main factors that contribute to hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while many people think of hearing loss as being obvious, the reality is that some mild hearing loss can go unnoticed. Worse, even a mild case of hearing loss increases your risk and likelihood of experiencing tinnitus.
It’s not a cure, but hearing aids can help treat tinnitus
Tinnitus can’t be cured. However, hearing aids can treat both hearing loss and tinnitus in ways that can reduce symptoms and enhance one’s quality of life. As a matter of fact, the similarities between hearing loss and tinnitus are rather 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 often hear a high-pitched ringing from tinnitus. 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 effectively “masked” by a hearing aid which can drown out the offending sound and replace it with one that’s supposed to be heard. The good news is, there are other, more advanced solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms produced by tinnitus.
Decrease symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
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 may be simple in design, that amplification of noise, be it the din of a dinner party or the rattling of a ceiling fan, is critical in training your brain to experience particular stimulations once more.
But you can augment those amplification efforts with a combination of other strategies like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress management for a more complete approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to decrease the symptoms of tinnitus. These rhythmically irregular tones can detract from the consistent and regular tones tinnitus sufferers hear. The ringing is overwhelmed by soothing, wind chime-like sounds generated by the most prevalent fractal tones instead of simple white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Other specialty devices attempt to blend your tinnitus in with the environmental sounds you’re hearing. This approach will generally use a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can adjust to ensure proper calibration for your ear and your condition.
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise mechanism, each of these specialized devices has a common aim of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
It’s true that there is no cure for tinnitus, but for at least some of the 50 million suffering from the condition, hearing aids provide an alluring possibility to reduce symptoms and live a better quality of life.
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 minimize symptoms.