Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the absence of an external source. Most people describe their tinnitus as a ringing, buzzing, or hissing sound. Tinnitus can be caused by a variety of factors, including hearing loss, ear infections, and exposure to loud noise.
There is no cure for tinnitus, but there are treatments that can help to reduce the tinnitus so that you don’t notice it. Hearing aids are one type of treatment that may be helpful for people with tinnitus.
How hearing aids help tinnitus
Even if you don’t notice difficulty with your hearing, wearing hearing aids can still help tinnitus. There are 3 main ways hearing aids help tinnitus.
1. Hearing aids can mask tinnitus
Hearing aids work by amplifying sound, which can help to mask the sound of tinnitus. “Masking” of tinnitus means to cover it up with other sound so the tinnitus is no longer heard. Even if the person perceives their tinnitus as loud, it doesn’t mean that masking sounds need to be loud in order to mask the tinnitus. Even a soft noise, such as a fan noise in the home, can be enough to mask the tinnitus. Hearing aids help to mask the tinnitus because they allow the wearer to hear more sounds around them. The brain is less likely to focus on the sound of tinnitus when other sounds are heard.
The effectiveness of hearing aids in masking tinnitus varies from person to person. Some people find that hearing aids are very effective in reducing the severity of their tinnitus symptoms, while others find that they are not as helpful.
2. Hearing aids can provide sound therapy to treat tinnitus
Another way to help tinnitus is to use a tinnitus program built into a hearing aid, or to use Bluetooth to stream tinnitus sounds to your hearing aids for the purpose of sound therapy. There are tinnitus programs built into many hearing aids that can be prescribed for tinnitus sound therapy.
Professionals, such as audiologists, who specialize in tinnitus, can prescribe the hearing aid so that the sound delivered through the hearing aid is providing sound therapy. Sound therapy is different from masking the tinnitus because the goal is not to completely “cover up” the tinnitus, but to retrain the brain to not focus on the tinnitus and re-categorize it as non-threatening so that it can ignore it. Sound therapy is a specific type of therapy used in the treatment of tinnitus and can be very effective in reducing bothersome tinnitus.
If you are considering using hearing aids to mask your tinnitus, or provide sound therapy for your tinnitus, it is important to talk to an audiologist specializing in tinnitus. I can help you determine if hearing aids are right for you and can help you choose the right type of hearing aid for your needs.
Sign up for your free 15 minute tinnitus consult with Dr. Lindsey Banks using the button below. I look forward to talking to you and helping you overcome your tinnitus.
Schedule Appointment3. Hearing aids can help reduce stress
Many people find that tinnitus is a distraction from their ability to hear. Hearing aids not only help you hear better, but they can also help to reduce stress and anxiety, which can contribute to tinnitus symptoms. When you are hearing better you are less likely to experience stress or anxiety and therefore less likely to experience tinnitus.
Can over-the-counter hearing aids help tinnitus?
Over-the-counter hearing aids are not designed for the treatment of tinnitus. However, if you have tinnitus and you also have a mild to moderate hearing loss, OTC hearing aids can help tinnitus the same way prescription hearing aids can.
The only difference in the way OTC hearing aids and prescription hearing aids can help with tinnitus is that over-the-counter hearing aids do not have built-in tinnitus programs for prescribed sound therapy. However, if you have a Bluetooth OTC hearing aid and a sound therapy app on your smartphone, you can still incorporate sound therapy using the hearing aids. I would not recommend trying to set this up on your own. Get help from a tinnitus expert to use sound therapy effectively and control your tinnitus.
Sign up for your free 15 minute tinnitus consult with Dr. Lindsey Banks using the button below. I look forward to talking to you and helping you overcome your tinnitus.
Schedule AppointmentResearch on Hearing Aids and Tinnitus
There have been a number of studies that have examined the effectiveness of hearing aids in treating tinnitus.
- A 2007 study published in the journal “Hearing Research” found that hearing aids were effective in reducing the severity of tinnitus symptoms in people with hearing loss and may even have long-term effects on tinnitus via promoting neuroplasticity.
- A 2013 review of the literature found that 17 of the 18 studies reviewed showed merit in using hearing aids in the management of tinnitus.
- A 2020 study found that hearing aids, in combination with tinnitus counseling, were an effective tinnitus treatment for those with hearing loss and tinnitus.
Hearing aids are not a cure for tinnitus, but they can be an effective treatment for reducing the symptoms. If you are considering hearing aids for tinnitus, it is important to talk to an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus first.
Sign up for your free 15 minute tinnitus consult with Dr. Lindsey Banks using the button below. I look forward to talking to you and helping you overcome your tinnitus.
Schedule Appointment
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