Understanding Tinnitus and Hearing Aids: How They Help with Symptoms
Tinnitus is a common yet often debilitating condition. It manifests as a near-constant ringing or buzzing sound in the ears and is mainly caused by long-term exposure to noise. People who work in factories, airplane hangers, concert venues, or construction often suffer from combined hearing loss and tinnitus.
While there is no cure for the condition, wearing hearing aids for tinnitus can be effective. Keep reading to check out Audicus’ complete guide to understanding and managing tinnitus.
Tinnitus 101:
Tinnitus can be temporary or permanent. Many of us have experienced tinnitus—that ringing sound after a loud concert, for instance. For most people, it goes away after a few hours or a day.
However, permanent tinnitus is a serious and painful condition. Recently, tinnitus has gained some attention via the summer flick Baby Driver, which featured a main character who constantly listens to music to combat his tinnitus.
Most tinnitus is caused by prolonged exposure in noisy environments, which is why it goes hand-in-hand with hearing loss. However, tinnitus can also be a side effect of aging or caused by ear infections or diseases. Very rarely, tinnitus can come about after using certain medications.
Tinnitus can be difficult to diagnose, but it is a very real condition. You might be the only person who hears the ringing but it’s possible to get a diagnosis and some relief.
Managing Tinnitus:
As mentioned previously, there is no known cure for tinnitus. There are several different ways to treat and lessen tinnitus so that people with the condition can live fairly painless lives. Many people with tinnitus find that listening to soothing or white noise helps to mitigate the ringing sounds. Check out Audicus’ custom playlist for tinnitus here.
There is also a treatment for tinnitus that is a bit more involved. Based on a recent study about tinnitus and frequencies of sound, a company called AudioNotch developed online software that can help alleviate tinnitus. Alternatively, local audiologists and hearing clinics typically offer services to address tinnitus specifically.
It determines the frequency of your tinnitus and creates custom sound therapy that filters that frequency out. Users have found that the volume of their tinnitus decreases after several weeks of sound therapy.
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Hearing Aids For Tinnitus
Can hearing aids be used for tinnitus relief? Since most people with tinnitus also have hearing loss, many tinnitus sufferers are already using hearing aids. Hearing aids allow wearers to hear sounds they might be missing, which can effectively mask a lot of the tinnitus ringing.
When you’re able to hear everything going on around you the tinnitus doesn’t sound so loud. Additionally, tinnitus masking can be programmed to hearing aids and help alleviate symptoms.
All Audicus models offer tinnitus masking.
According to the American Tinnitus Association, a 2007 survey found that approximately 60% of tinnitus sufferers found some relief with hearing aids. In addition to masking the sounds of tinnitus, hearing aids increase stimulation between the brain and the auditory pathways.
This may cause a reduction in tinnitus symptoms. Hearing aids also have volume controls which could allow users to make their environmental sounds louder than their tinnitus. Hearing aids for tinnitus could be an effective treatment for you!