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If you feel like you can hear a sound even when it’s not there — you may have tinnitus. It is a phantom auditory sensation that has no real source. When most people think of tinnitus noises, they imagine a high-frequency ringing sound.
Tinnitus can also generate a sensation of:
Hissing
Buzzing
Clicking
A roaring sound or other loud noise
When people experience tinnitus, a lot of the time the source of the ‘sound’ can be hard to locate — and can even feel like it’s coming from in the middle of the head.
The ‘sounds’ of tinnitus can be consistent over long periods of time. But they can also be irregular. They can either be steady-sounding or irregular. The volumes can also vary quite a lot. From a gentle soft humming to a deafening roar.
There are two different types of tinnitus:
In the case of objective tinnitus, there could be multiple causes including Ménière’s disease and even a build-up of earwax. It’s important to seek medical advice from your GP to determine the real cause of your tinnitus.
If the problem is down to earwax, then our at-home earwax removal services can help you to get your hearing back to normal.
Tinnitus affects everybody differently. For some people, it can be a really disruptive problem that interferes with their quality of life.
Common symptoms include:
The noises perceived by tinnitus can keep people awake at night, or make it difficult for them to concentrate. Which in turn can cause depression, irritability, fatigue and more. Therefore, many of the main symptoms feed into one another.
If you find the symptoms are so bad that you cannot do everyday activities without feeling troubled by your tinnitus — then it’s time to speak to an audiologist who can help you to take the next necessary steps.
Not everyone with tinnitus has hearing loss — but most do. Hearing loss is also often the cause of tinnitus, as it can disrupt the way the brain interprets signals from the ear. The result is that the brain sometimes gets confused and hears a sound even when there isn’t one — such as the ringing noises often associated with tinnitus.
Studies have shown fairly consistently that anything that damages hearing over time can lead to the development of tinnitus. And because hearing loss is often linked to tinnitus, wearing a hearing aid can help you to manage the symptoms. Even if the symptoms are very mild.
Do hearing aids help tinnitus? Yes. Hearing aids can help to restore the way your brain interprets signals from the ear. There is good evidence over the past few decades to back this up. Although to this day it is not fully understood from a scientific point of view just how they work so well.
Hearing aids won’t cure you of tinnitus, but they can be an effective form of treatment. This study found hearing aids as a valuable treatment strategy for tinnitus, and likewise, this study revealed a positive correlation.
The use of hearing aids can help you feel better if you suffer from tinnitus in the following ways:
Fortunately, there are many different types of hearing aids available to help with tinnitus.
To make sure you choose the correct model, here are some things to consider:
Find out more about the different types of hearing aids and their features on our hearing aids resource page.
Here are the tinnitus-fighting hearing aids we recommend the most. Each model has its own features and benefits to consider, depending on what you want out of your hearing aids and on how severe your tinnitus is.
These Starkey hearing aids feature an advanced type of masking sound therapy known as ‘Multiflex Tinnitus Technology’.
They also have advanced speech audibility and sound quality mechanisms that are powered by artificial intelligence — enabling you to concentrate on conversations more, and also enhance background noises. Soothing the tinnitus symptoms.
Other great features include:
Click here to read more about Starkey hearing aids.
The ReSound ONE is a receiver-in-ear model. It has six microphones that all work together to make it as easy as possible to understand speech and decipher background noise.
The microphones adjust automatically to the environment as it gets louder or quieter, or changes. So you won’t have to worry about reconfiguring the settings.
Other great features include:
Click here to read more about ReSound hearing aids.
The Phonak Lyric is a type of invisible hearing aid, best suited for people with a degree of hearing loss that ranges from mild to moderately severe — and also for people who may self-conscious about wearing hearing aids.
They are designed to be worn all the time, 24 hours a day, for months at a time. A professional audiologist will help you to fit these Phonak Lyric hearing aids in the ear canal near the eardrum.
According to a study conducted by Phonak’s own audiologists, this hearing aid can reduce the sounds associated with tinnitus much more quickly than other, more traditional models can. And because it is supposed to stay in the ear all the time, it constantly provides the brain with auditory input — helping to improve the brain’s health and soothe tinnitus symptoms even quicker.
Other great features include:
Click here to read more about Phonak hearing aids.
The Oticon More is a hearing aid best suited to people with hearing loss that ranges from mild to severe. They come pre-installed with Oticon’s Tinnitus SoundSupport — which gives the wearer the ability to play sounds that mask and diminish the symptoms of tinnitus. Including white noise, and ocean waves.
The Oticon More can identify and supply over 12 million sounds to the brain. Helping to keep the brain healthy and quickening the rate through which it can increase speech and sound understanding.
Other great features include:
Click here to read more about Oticon hearing aids.
Arrange for a hearing test at home with one of our audiologists today. We’ll bring tinnitus hearing aids along with us for you to look at and try out on the day, too.
One of our audiologists will work with you to adjust the sound stimulus in each model, reducing the intensity of your tinnitus symptoms and helping to distract you from it.
No unnecessary travelling about. No more appointments at inconvenient times. Get a feel for these hearing aids on your own terms.
The only time you are ever likely to have a problem with your hearing aids is if they require maintenance or haven’t been installed properly.
If your hearing aid wasn’t fitted properly, there may be over or under amplification. This can be problematic for tinnitus sufferers — but can quickly be resolved by a professional audiologist.
Hearing aids do require regular maintenance to keep them working optimally. Over time, ear wax can build up on and disrupt the hearing aid from functioning properly — and can even change the way they pick up sounds.
If you have tinnitus and feel your hearing aids are not helping, or have suddenly stopped working, it’s likely a fault such as lack of maintenance or poor installation is to blame. In any case, speak to your provider.
There are other ways to get tinnitus relief aside from hearing aids. Including:
And you don’t have to limit yourself to one treatment. They can all be used together to help. TRT therapy will help you to “zone out” from the annoying sounds generated — but it will require some dedication over the long term to get the most out of it.
CBT on the other hand, helps you learn to live with tinnitus. By changing the way you think about the sounds generated, you can learn to no longer think of it as an annoying sound.
Meditation and relaxation can also help with the stress and anxiety often caused by tinnitus.
No two people have tinnitus the same way. So feel free to try all these approaches, and wear good hearing aids for tinnitus.
Hearing aids are an effective way to combat tinnitus. If you are suffering, arrange for a FREE at-home test and consultation with one of our hearing care professionals.
We can come out to you within a week, anywhere in the UK (except for Northern Ireland and the northernmost parts of Scotland).
Our audiology team has all the necessary training and expert healthcare equipment to properly and thoroughly assess your ears for tinnitus and hearing loss and to provide you with appropriate treatment options. Find out what to expect in a hearing test here.
Head of Audiology & contributor
Asa has worked as an audiologist for 6 years, providing expert and revolutionary care to patients who suffer from hearing loss in the meantime. He also supervises the management, learning, and career development of the Hearmore Audiology and Sales Management team.
You can reach Asa on his LinkedIn page here.
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