Most estimates put the amount of individuals affected by tinnitus in the millions or around one in every seven people. In a few countries, the numbers are even higher and that’s pretty startling.
Sometimes tinnitus is temporary. But if you’re dealing with chronic tinnitus symptoms it becomes crucial to find a solution as soon as you can. Luckily, there is a treatment that has proven to be quite effective: hearing aids.
Tinnitus and hearing loss are connected but separate conditions. you can have hearing loss without tinnitus or tinnitus without hearing loss. But if you are going through the two conditions simultaneously, which is pretty typical, hearing aids can treat both at the same time.
How Hearing Aids Can Help Tinnitus
According to one survey, 60% of individuals who suffer from tinnitus observed some measure of relief when they began using hearing aids. For 22% of those individuals, the relief was considerable. However, hearing aids aren’t designed specifically to treat tinnitus. Association appears to be the main reason for this benefit. So if you have tinnitus and hearing loss then that’s when your hearing aids will most successfully treat the tinnitus symptoms.
Here’s how hearing aids can help stop tinnitus symptoms:
- Outside sounds are boosted: When you experience hearing loss, the volume of the outside world (or, at least, specific wavelengths of the world) can fade away and become quieter. When that happens the ringing in your ears becomes much more obvious. It’s the loudest thing you’re hearing because it is not diminished by your hearing loss. A hearing aid can boost that ambient sound, helping to mask the ringing or buzzing that was so forefront before. As you pay less and less attention to your tinnitus, it becomes less of a problem.
- Conversations become easier: Modern hearing aids are particularly effective at identifying human speech and raising the volume of those sounds. This means carrying on a conversation can become much easier once you’re routinely using your devices. You can keep up with the story Fred is telling at happy hour or listen to what Sally is excited about at work. The more you socialize with other people, the more social you are, the less you’ll notice your tinnitus. Interacting socially also helps reduce stress, which is linked to tinnitus.
- The increased audio stimulation is keeping your brain fit: Hearing loss has been shown to put stress on mental function. Tinnitus symptoms you may be experiencing can be decreased when the brain is in a healthy limber condition and hearing aids can help keep it that way.
Modern Hearing Aids Come With Several Advantages
Smart Technology is incorporated into modern hearing aids. To some extent, that’s because they feature the newest technologies and hearing assistance algorithms. But the efficiency of modern hearing aids is accomplished in part because each device can be refined and calibrated on a patient-by-patient basis (they can even detect the level of background noise and automatically adjust accordingly).
Whatever your particular hearing levels are, customized hearing aids can conveniently be calibrated to them. The humming or buzzing is more likely to be effectively masked if your hearing aid is dialed in to work best for you.
What is The Best Way to End Tinnitus?
This will likely depend on your level of hearing loss. If you haven’t had any hearing loss, you’ll still have available treatments for your tinnitus. That could mean custom-made masking devices, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or medication.
However, hearing aids may be able to take care of both situations if you have tinnitus and hearing loss at the same time. Managing your hearing impairment with a good pair of hearing aids can often stop tinnitus from making your life miserable.