It’s generally not clear what’s triggering tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing in your ears). But one thing we know for sure is that if you have hearing loss your chance of developing tinnitus goes up. Up to 90 percent of people who are afflicted by tinnitus also have hearing loss according to HIAA.

As you most likely realize, your age, genetics, and lifestyle can all play a role in the advancement of hearing loss. Often, mild cases of hearing loss go unnoticed and hearing loss, in general, isn’t always apparent. Worse, even a slight case of hearing loss raises your risk and likelihood of developing tinnitus.

Hearing Aids Won’t Cure Tinnitus But They Will Help

There is no cure for tinnitus. However, your symptoms can be reduced and your life can be improved by using hearing aids to manage your hearing loss and tinnitus. As a matter of fact, one study confirmed that as much as 60 percent of people suffering from tinnitus experienced relief when they used hearing aids, with 22 percent showing significant relief.

A conventional hearing aid can basically hide the ringing or buzzing caused by tinnitus by improving your ability to hear outside sounds, which effectively drowns out the ringing. And, fortunately, conventional hearing aids aren’t the only option as more advanced treatment methods are being produced.

Types of Specialized Hearing Aids to Decrease Tinnitus Symptoms

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 sound, be it the rabble of a dinner party or the rattle of a ceiling fan, is critical in teaching your brain to receive certain stimulations again.

You can take an even more complete approach to your tinnitus treatment by augmenting hearing aids with other strategies, like stress reduction, sound stimulation, and counseling.

Fractal tones and irregular rhythms are even being used by some hearing aid manufacturers. The constant tone of tinnitus can be interrupted by the irregular tones of these inconsistent rhythms.

Other specialty devices try to blend your tinnitus in with the normal sounds you’re hearing. Your condition and ear have very personal needs and this technique will use a personalized white noise that will be dialed-in by your hearing specialist.

All of these strategies, from white noise therapies to sound therapies, utilize specialized hearing aid technology to distract the attention of the user away from focusing on tinnitus noises.

It’s true that there is no cure for tinnitus, but for at least some people, hearing aids help lessen symptoms and improve your quality of life.

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References

• https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/HLAA_HearingLoss_Facts_Statistics.pdf?pdf=FactStats
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17956798
• https://www.ata.org/managing-your-tinnitus/treatment-options/hearing-aids
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6197965