How Do Hearing Aids Help with Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is sometimes described as “ringing in the ears” but this is inaccurate. It’s actually when the brain perceives noises without an external stimulus. The sounds can be ringing but there are many other possibilities.

What to do if you are experiencing tinnitus

If you are only experiencing mild tinnitus and it isn’t really bothering you, you may wish to “wait and see” for a short while. Tinnitus can just go away by itself. If, however, your tinnitus is bothering you, then your first step is to make sure that your ears are properly clean and free of wax. There are some medications and medical conditions that are linked to people experiencing tinnitus. These include diabetes, anxiety and stress. Tinnitus has also been linked to a lack of sleep. This means that any habits that can disrupt sleep (like consuming alcohol and caffeine or smoking) may also lead to tinnitus.

Tinnitus and your hearing

Hearing health professionals treat everyone as an individual. There are, however, two treatments that are known to be particularly effective at helping with tinnitus. These are sound machines and hearing aids with masking features. Sound machines are used in tinnitus retraining therapy. Tinnitus retraining therapy leverages the fact that the brain can be trained to categorize sounds by importance. For example, a sleeper might just hit the snooze button on an alarm clock but jump out of bed for a fire alarm. Tinnitus retraining therapy essentially trains your brain to recognize your “tinnitus noises” as unimportant. The idea is that, ultimately, your brain will simply begin to “tune them out”. Tinnitus retraining therapy is definitely not a quick fix. Realistically, you should expect it to take up to 12 months to have a serious impact. It is, however, very effective. Hearing aids with masking features combine the targeted amplifying features of regular hearing aids with a “white noise mask.” The idea is to amplify the sounds you want to hear while blurring out the ones you don’t.

Tinnitus and hearing loss

Tinnitus has been connected with hearing loss although the connection is nuanced. For example, if you attempt to “self-treat” tinnitus by blocking it out with other noise, you may end up doing serious damage to your hearing. If, by contrast, you visit a hearing professional early and get proper tinnitus treatment, you may experience minimal tinnitus and minimal hearing loss. The main reason that hearing aids with masking features are often recommended for tinnitus is that they balance stimulation with protection. In other words, they keep the ear/brain connection working by providing sensory input. At the same time, they ensure that the experience of tinnitus is minimized.