Most estimates put the amount of individuals affected by tinnitus in the millions or about one in every seven people. That’s… a lot of people, both in absolute terms and relative to the overall population, and in some countries, the amount of the population who experience tinnitus is even more alarming.
Sometimes tinnitus is goes away on it’s own. But in those situations where ringing, buzzing, or humming in your ears is difficult to shake, finding an effective treatment can very quickly become a priority. Fortunately, there is a remedy that has proven to be really effective: hearing aids.
Hearing loss and tinnitus are connected but separate conditions. It’s possible to have tinnitus with average hearing or to experience hearing loss without also developing tinnitus. But both conditions coexist frequently enough that hearing aids have become a dependable solution, managing hearing loss and stopping tinnitus all at once.
How Hearing Aids Can Help Tinnitus
Hearing aids have, based on one study, been reported to give tinnitus relief to up to 60% of participants. For 22% of those individuals, the relief was significant. However, hearing aids aren’t designed specifically to treat tinnitus. The benefits appear to come by association. So if you have tinnitus along with hearing loss then that’s when your hearing aids will most effectively treat the tinnitus symptoms.
Here’s how tinnitus symptoms can be decreased with hearing aids:
- Everything gets slightly louder: The volume of some of the wavelengths of the world become quieter when you’re suffering from hearing loss. When that happens the ringing in your ears becomes a lot more noticeable. It’s the loudest thing you hear because it is not impacted by your hearing loss. The buzzing or ringing that was so obvious will be obscured when your hearing aid enhances the external sound. As you tune out 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 be much easier once you’re routinely using your devices. You will be more engaged 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 socialize with other people, the more social you are, the less you’ll notice your tinnitus. Interacting socially also helps minimize stress, which is associated with tinnitus.
- The enhanced audio stimulation is keeping your brain fit: When you have hearing loss, those portions of your brain charged with interpreting sounds can frequently suffer from fatigue, stress, or atrophy. Wearing a hearing aid can keep the audio centers of your brain flexible and healthy, which in turn can help minimize some tinnitus symptoms you might be experiencing.
Modern Hearing Aids Come With Several Advantages
Modern hearing aids are intelligent. To some extent, that’s because they incorporate the latest technologies and hearing assistance algorithms. But it’s the ability to personalize a hearing aid to the specific user’s needs that makes modern hearing aids so effective (they can even sense the level of background noise and automatically adjust accordingly).
Personalizing hearing aids means that the sensitivity and output signals can easily be adjusted to the specific hearing levels you may have. The better your hearings aid works for you, the more likely they are to help you mask the buzzing or humming from tinnitus.
What is The Best Way to Get Rid of Tinnitus?
Your level of hearing loss will dictate what’s best for you. There are still treatment solutions for your tinnitus even if you don’t have any hearing loss. Cognitive behavioral therapy, a custom masking device, or medication are some possible solutions.
But, hearing aids may 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 difficult by treating your hearing loss with a good set of hearing aids.