Scientists still haven’t identified the cause of tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears. Hearing specialists, however, do agree that tinnitus is more prevalent in people who also have hearing loss.
Some of the principal factors that contribute to hearing loss are genetics, age, and lifestyle. And while it may seem like the symptoms of hearing loss would be fairly obvious, when it’s still in the early stages, it often goes undetected. Unfortunately, your risk of experiencing hearing loss increases with even slight cases of hearing loss.
It isn’t a cure, but hearing aids can help manage tinnitus
There is no cure for tinnitus. 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 rather remarkable.
The pitch or frequency of the ringing one hears when dealing with tinnitus is normally in sync with the type of hearing loss that person has. As an example, if somebody 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 generating tinnitus sounds in the same frequency range.
A traditional hearing aid can essentially hide the ringing or buzzing connected with tinnitus by replacing it with the appropriate sounds. Here’s the good thing, there are other, more advanced solutions beyond just traditional hearing aids to manage the symptoms produced by tinnitus.
Reduce symptoms of tinnitus with specialized hearing aids
Hearing aids work by gathering natural sounds from the environment around you and amplifying 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 rattle of a ceiling fan, is critical in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.
But other combinations of methods like sound stimulation, counseling, and minimizing stress can also be utilized to improve those amplification efforts and supply a more comprehensive treatment approach.
Some manufacturers even utilize the irregular rhythm of fractal tones to lessen the symptoms of tinnitus. 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 supply a soothing sound that overwhelms the ringing.
Mixing natural sounds from your environment with your tinnitus is the aim of other specialized devices. This approach will generally utilize a white noise signal that a hearing specialist can program 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 goal of distracting the user away from the ringing or buzzing of tinnitus.
Though tinnitus can’t be cured, hearing aids can help decrease the intensity of the symptoms and enhance quality of life, which is an alluring feature for the 50 million people who use hearing aids.
Have more questions about tinnitus?
For more information on reducing tinnitus symptoms, check out our tinnitus section or call for a consultation.
