You’ve probably heard people say the phrase, “Does anyone else hear that ringing?” Or maybe you’ve said it yourself. For many people, hearing a ringing or buzzing sound without being able to find its source—a symptom known as tinnitus—is an everyday occurrence.
Chronic tinnitus affects approximately five million people in the United States. While tinnitus has no known cure, there are a few ways you can manage it for a better quality of life. One popular management option is hearing aids.
How Do Hearing Aids Help With Tinnitus?
With chronic tinnitus, your brain is focused on the persistent, irritating ringing sound. The constant ringing can make it hard to concentrate, cause irritability and even disrupt your sleep. Think of it like an itchy spot on your back that you can’t quite reach. Until you find relief, you probably can’t think of anything else.
Hearing aids help shift your focus away from the internal ringing of tinnitus, much like how a soothing lotion can ease the discomfort of an itch. The primary way hearing aids reduce tinnitus severity is by redirecting your attention to other sounds. This could be amplified sounds from your environment or calming white noise provided by a tinnitus masking setting on your devices.
Since your brain can’t focus on two things at once, having an external sound to listen to provides a pleasant distraction, helping to reduce the stress caused by tinnitus.
Can I Combine Hearing Aids With Other Tinnitus Management Tools?
You can absolutely combine hearing aids with other tinnitus management tools! Tinnitus is an extremely personal symptom. Some people may find that hearing aids and other sound masking tools are enough to distract from their internal ringing. Others might find the best results by combining hearing aids with tinnitus retraining therapy or stress relieving classes at Ritual Yoga.
Finding the right tinnitus management tools for you might take a few tries, but we’re here to help every step of the way. Contact Western Montana Hearing and Speech today to start your path toward tinnitus management with one of our specialists.