Hearing aids can relieve tinnitus by amplifying background noises and masking tinnitus sounds. Many hearing care brands have some kind of tinnitus relieving technology in their hearing devices. Some brands have technology built into hearing aids, others have an app, and some companies offer both. Simply putting on hearing aids often helps reduce tinnitus symptoms, says Ramachandran.
However, these devices also have features that can help. Like most tinnitus treatments, hearing aids may work best when combined with a structured tinnitus education program and some form of patient counseling. Millions of people around the world experience tinnitus, including many with hearing loss. The fact is that just wearing a hearing aid can help relieve tinnitus.
About 20 percent of the adult population will report some type of hearing loss at any given time. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Says About 36 Million US Adults Suffer Hearing Loss. Unfortunately, only a small fraction will receive the kind of long-lasting relief you need. Tinnitus is one of the most common hearing problems people experience (although it is a symptom, not an independent condition), but tinnitus is often ignored for many years.
The search for the best treatments for tinnitus has sparked a great debate among audiologists, otolaryngologists and others. Ringing in the ears is a complicated symptom that can have many different underlying causes. Tinnitus treatment for one person may not work for another person. Because it's so distinctively personal, it's very important to choose an audiologist who offers personalized, evidence-based treatments.
Hearing aids are a great starting point for people who suffer from tinnitus and also have hearing loss. Usually these are people who have difficulty hearing external sounds at a desirable volume and expect those sounds to be amplified. Hearing aids help many people with tinnitus, but they don't work for everyone. Even so, when combined with tinnitus retraining therapy and other strategies, a comprehensive treatment plan can produce highly desirable results.
When this is the case, you'll want to choose an audiologist who will allow you to further explore your options. In most cases, the audiologist will recommend a combination of treatments for tinnitus that may include sound therapy, sound maskers, counseling, medications, and others. A multidisciplinary approach involving several medical providers with more severe cases of tinnitus may be necessary. Because tinnitus is relatively common, researchers around the world are constantly looking for new ways to treat it.
Choosing an audiology office that uses a proven, evidence-based approach will help increase the likelihood of a successful outcome. One of the most effective ways of treating tinnitus is sound therapy. As the term implies, sound therapy helps to “rehabilitate your hearing system” and change the way you hear the world around you. Sound therapy often includes several exercises that can help retrain the brain and begin to gradually reduce the intensity of tinnitus.
While the relief it provides is not always immediate, most patients report positive progress after a few months. It's also important to note that while the two are only sometimes used together, sound therapy and hearing aids are not mutually exclusive. Sound maskers may mask tinnitus from a person with white noise, but are NOT effective in providing long-term benefits. Maskers can be used in the short term to cover up the problem of tinnitus.
However, for a long-term solution, the brain must “see tinnitus” to reclassify it as neutral and desensitize to its presence and impact. If you have symptoms of tinnitus and have never met with an audiologist, this may be the perfect time to schedule your first appointment. Many people are completely unaware of how much better the world can sound until they are introduced to some of the technologies and treatments currently available. You should also schedule an appointment with an audiologist if you suffer from tinnitus, hyperacusis, or any other debilitating hearing problem.
These problems are much more treatable than many people initially assume. If you consulted an audiologist a few years ago and didn't have the answers you were looking for, you should review the idea knowing that technology has improved and that there are now more options than ever to help patients with tinnitus and other hearing related problems. In the complex world of hearing, the need for personalized hearing solutions is undeniable. When it comes to tinnitus, many people will benefit from using hearing aids or hearing devices, while others may need a more in-depth approach to tinnitus treatment, such as TRT.
If you want to determine the severity of your tinnitus, consider taking our Tinnitus Impact Survey. At Sound Relief Hearing Center, we bring hope and help to people living with tinnitus and other hearing health problems. Our patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we strive to guide them to overcome their challenges by providing innovative and compassionate healthcare. People often ask “Can hearing aids improve tinnitus? In the vast majority of cases, people report a significant reduction in their knowledge of the tinnitus signal once hearing aids have been introduced.
The reason is that hearing aids can effectively increase the volume of the surrounding sounds you want to hear and thus mask the internal signal of tinnitus. When this happens, it is more difficult to perceive ringing in the ears and it helps the brain to focus on other things. A hearing aid can help relieve tinnitus if you have hearing loss. An audiologist can help you find and use the hearing aid that best fits your needs.
In picture B, the person has been fitted with a hearing aid, and the background is clear and rich in detail. After all, for many people, buzzing, whistling and buzzing are their problem, not the inability to hear. According to the manufacturer, Oticon More hearing aids help brain health and increase speech understanding by providing more sound to the brain. Hearing aids can increase the volume of external noise to the point of covering (masking) the sound of tinnitus.
Together with your audiologist, you can choose from a wide range of tinnitus relief sound options and decide what sounds to include in your hearing aids. With hearing loss, you'll experience a lack of brain input, explains audiologist Julie Prutsman, founder of the Sound Relief Hearing Center and member of the board of directors of the American Tinnitus Association. Modern digital hearing aids, with open designs and personalized hearing loss profiles for the patient, can be particularly useful in cases of tinnitus. Your local Bay Audio doctors are available to answer any questions you may have or to provide you with the hearing aid accessories you need.
While there is no cure for tinnitus, there are treatments to reduce the severity and help with daily functioning, including hearing aids. Both Prutsman and Ramachandran agree that a hearing test is a good first step if you have tinnitus, as it can rule out medical causes of the condition (such as medications that cause tinnitus as a side effect). And if their hearing is tested, they will usually have at least some level of hearing loss and they may not have noticed it, Ramachandran says. If you don't have headphones with Bluetooth technology, you can connect your smartphone or tablet to headphones and start your life more comfortable with tinnitus.
Tinnitus and hearing loss often go hand in hand, and about 80% of people who suffer from tinnitus also have hearing loss. . .
