Most estimates put the number of people impacted by tinnitus in the millions or about one out of every seven people. In some countries, the numbers are even higher and that’s pretty startling.
Sometimes tinnitus is goes away on it’s own. But in those instances where ringing, buzzing, or humming in your ears is tough to get rid of, finding an effective remedy can very quickly become a priority. One of the most effective of such remedies is already rather common: hearing aids.
There are some links between tinnitus and hearing loss but they are actually separate conditions. you can have hearing loss without tinnitus or tinnitus without hearing loss. But if you’re experiencing the two conditions simultaneously, which is fairly typical, hearing aids can treat both at the same time.
How Hearing Aids Can Treat Tinnitus
According to one study, 60% of people with tinnitus noticed some amount of relief when they began using hearing aids. Approximately 22% of those surveyed reported significant relief. However, hearing aids are not designed specifically to handle tinnitus. The benefits appear to come by association. As such, hearing aids appear to be most practical if you have tinnitus and hearing loss.
Here’s how tinnitus symptoms can be decreased with hearing aids:
- Everything gets a bit louder: The volume of some of the frequencies of the world become quieter when have hearing loss. 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 drown out 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.
- It gets easier to engage in conversations: Amplifying human speech is something modern hearing aids are particularly good at. This means carrying on a conversation can become much easier once you’re routinely wearing your devices. You can keep up with the story Fred is telling at the restaurant or listen to what Sally is excited about at work. When you have a healthy interactive social life tinnitus can appear to fade into the background. At times, tinnitus is worsened by stress so being able to socialize can helps in this way also.
- Your brain is getting an auditory workout: Hearing loss has been proven to put a strain on mental function. Tinnitus symptoms you may be experiencing can be decreased when the brain is in a healthy flexible condition and hearing aids can help maintain this.
The Benefits of Modern Hearing Aids
Modern hearing aids are smart. To some extent, that’s because they feature the latest technologies and hearing assistance algorithms. But the efficiency of modern hearing aids is achieved in part because each device can be refined and calibrated on a patient-by-patient basis (they can even detect the amount of background noise and automatically recalibrate accordingly).
Customizing hearing aids means that the sensitivity and output signals can conveniently be adjusted to the particular hearing levels you might have. The better your hearings aid works for you, the more likely they are to help you cover up the buzzing or humming from tinnitus.
What is The Best Way to Get Rid of Tinnitus?
This will likely depend on your level of hearing impairment. If you haven’t experienced any hearing loss, you’ll still have accessible treatments for your tinnitus. That could mean custom-created masking devices, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or medication.
However, if you’re one of the many people out there who happen to have both hearing impairment and tinnitus, a set of hearing aids could be able to do the old two-birds-one-stone thing. Stop tinnitus from making your life difficult by managing your hearing loss with a good set of hearing aids.