At one time or another in your life you’ve most likely had some ringing in your ears. And that ringing has a name: tinnitus. According to most research, 15-20% of people experience tinnitus at one point or another. Although the majority of people only hear this ringing intermittently, some people suffer from chronic tinnitus that doesn’t go away. The most prevalent treatment for tinnitus is, fortunately, fairly straightforward: hearing aids.
Coping With Chronic Tinnitus
Some of the many reasons why tinnitus happens are pretty simple to figure out, others not so much. Tinnitus can also manifest as a wide variety of objective or subjective sounds, from pounding to clanging to metal buzz-saw sounds, whatever beautiful symphony your ears can create.
The noisier and more intense the sounds are, the more invasive tinnitus can get. Over time, tinnitus can cause declines in mental health, create trouble communicating, and interfere with your daily life.
Tinnitus And Hearing Aids
While there is often no way to cure the underlying cause of tinnitus, hearing aids have become rather adept at treating tinnitus symptoms. Hearing aids are capable of accomplishing this in a few ways.
Making The Ringing in Your Ears Less Noticeable
Tinnitus and hearing loss frequently manifest hand in hand. In some cases, they have the same underlying cause, but sometimes they don’t. But it’s quite likely that your tinnitus will get worse as your hearing loss worsens. There’s less competition, and that ringing or buzzing can really stand out (it’s like winning American Idol in a year with sub-par contestants).
When you’re wearing hearing aids the sounds of the external world will be louder. Once again your tinnitus will, to your relief, get lost in the details. This can help you focus on and enjoy your life.
Muting The Noises Out
Of course, there’s a difference between overwhelming your tinnitus and masking your tinnitus. So to help manage your buzzing and ringing, many modern hearing aids use a type of noise cancellation technology. We can show you how to tune your hearing aid to emit certain white noises that help lessen your tinnitus. Making use of this type of technology, you will be less aware of tinnitus sounds.
This capability isn’t available on all hearing aids, so you’ll have to check with us to find out what will be the best option for you.
There’s no cure for most forms of chronic tinnitus. But you still can find a way to deal with it. The ringing, buzzing, and other tinnitus-related sounds will be gone and you will be able to enjoy a full life with hearing aids that are calibrated precisely. Hearing aids are the ideal choice for people with tinnitus.