Around one in seven people are estimated to suffer from tinnitus. That puts the total number in the millions. In some countries, the numbers are even higher and that’s pretty startling.
True, tinnitus isn’t always chronic. But in those situations where buzzing, ringing, or humming in your ears is difficult to get rid of, finding an effective remedy can very quickly become a priority. One of the most practical of such solutions 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 both conditions occur together often enough that hearing aids have become a dependable solution, managing hearing loss and ending tinnitus in one fell swoop.
How Can Tinnitus be Helped by Hearing Aids?
Hearing aids have, according to one survey, been reported to give relief of tinnitus symptoms for up to 60% of participants. Roughly 22% of everyone surveyed reported considerable relief. But, hearing aids aren’t 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 hearing aids can help stop tinnitus symptoms:
- Everything gets a bit louder: The volume of certain wavelengths of the world become quieter when you are suffering from hearing loss. When that occurs the ringing in your ears becomes much more obvious. It’s the loudest thing you hear because it is not decreased by your hearing loss. A hearing aid can boost that surrounding sound, helping to mask the buzzing or ringing that was so prominent before. As you tune out your tinnitus, it becomes less of an issue.
- It gets easier to have conversations: Amplifying human speech is something modern hearing aids are particularly good at. So once you’re wearing your hearing aids regularly, having conversations gets a lot easier. You will be more involved with your co-worker’s story about their kids and better able to participate with your spouse about how their day went. The more you interact with other people, the more social you are, the less you’ll detect your tinnitus. In some cases, tinnitus is intensified by stress so being able to socialize can helps in this way too.
- Your brain is getting an auditory workout: Hearing loss has been proven to put a strain on mental function. Tinnitus symptoms you might be experiencing can be decreased when the brain is in a healthy limber condition and hearing aids can help maintain this.
The Perks of Modern Hearing Aids
Smart Technology is built into modern hearing aids. They come with innovative hearing assistance algorithms and the latest technology. But the efficiency of modern hearing aids is attained in part because each device can be refined and calibrated on a patient-by-patient basis (sometimes, they recalibrate according to the level of background noise).
Whatever your specific hearing levels are, customized hearing aids can conveniently be calibrated to them. The better your hearings aid works for you, the more likely they are to help you mask the humming or buzzing from tinnitus.
What is The Best Way to Get Rid of Tinnitus?
Your degree of hearing impairment will dictate what’s right for you. If you haven’t had any hearing loss, you’ll still have available treatments for your tinnitus. That could mean custom-created masking devices, medication, or cognitive behavioral therapy.
But, hearing aids might be able to take care of both situations if you have tinnitus and hearing loss at the same time. Stop tinnitus from making your life miserable by treating your hearing loss with a good set of hearing aids.