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 primary factors that contribute to hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while it might seem like the symptoms of hearing loss would be rather obvious, when it’s still in the early phases, it often goes undetected. Unfortunately, your risk of developing hearing loss increases with even minor cases of hearing loss.
It isn’t 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 minimize symptoms and improve one’s quality of life. 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 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. 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 effectively “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.
Decrease symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids pick up 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 experience certain stimulation again by amplifying noises like the rattle of a ceiling fan or the din of a dinner party.
But you can augment those amplification endeavors with a mix of other techniques like counseling, sound stimulation, and stress management for a more extensive approach to treatment.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to lessen the symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus sufferers usually hear tones that are constant and regular which can sometimes be disrupted by the irregular rhythms of these fractal tones. The ringing is drowned out by soothing, wind chime-like sounds generated by the most prevalent fractal tones rather than basic white noise which can also be helpful in some cases.
Other specialty devices attempt to mix your tinnitus in with the natural sounds you’re hearing. A white noise generator will be used in this approach, which can be calibrated by a hearing specialist to help decrease your specific tinnitus symptoms..
Whether it’s through sound therapy, blending, or a white noise system, each of these specialized devices has a common goal of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Though tinnitus has no cure, hearing aids can help decrease the severity of the symptoms and improve quality of life, which is an attractive feature for the 50 million people who use hearing aids.
Want to discuss your tinnitus with a hearing professional?
If you’re struggling with ringing or buzzing in the ears, check out our tinnitus section for more information on ways to decrease symptoms.