How to Treat Tinnitus with Hearing Aids

In the US, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) affects 20 percent of the entire population, and hearing loss occurs in 90 percent of the cases.

With such a deep relationship between hearing loss and tinnitus, you would think people would be much more likely to seek treatment for one or both conditions.

But in fact we find the exact opposite. Of those who avoid treatment for hearing loss, 39 percent (9 million people) do so because they are convinced nothing can be done about their tinnitus.

That’s 9 million people that are suffering needlessly when a treatment method is available that could both enhance hearing and alleviate tinnitus at the same time.

That treatment is the professional fitting of hearing aids.

In a recent survey of hearing health experts, it was found that 60 percent of patients reported some measure of tinnitus relief when using hearing aids, while 22 percent reported considerable relief.

Based on these figures, if the 9 million who have abandoned tinnitus utilized hearing aids, 5.4 million would realize some level of alleviation and about 2 million would attain significant relief.

But how do hearing aids reduce the intensity of tinnitus?

The scientific consensus is that hearing loss leads to diminished sound stimulation reaching the brain. In reaction, the brain experiences maladaptive neurological changes that result in the perception of sound when no exterior sound is present.

It’s this very subjective character that renders tinnitus so challenging to diagnose and treat, and why medications or surgical procedures generally have little to no effect. There’s simply no physical tissue to repair or chemistry to influence.

But there is a way to reach the perception of sound, a way to help the brain adjust or reverse its response to reduced sound stimulation.

With the help of hearing aids, amplified sound can help readjust the brain to healthy levels of sound stimulation and in the process offer a masking effect for the sounds of tinnitus.

For patients with hearing loss, tinnitus is more disturbing because the tinnitus is louder compared to the volume of exterior sound. By turning up the volume on external sound, tinnitus can fade into the background.

Additionally, some hearing aids can furnish sound therapy directly to the user, which can be customized for each person.

Hearing aids, in conjunction with sound and behavioral therapy, are presently the best tinnitus options available. The majority of patients describe some extent of relief and many patients report substantial relief.

Are you ready to give hearing aids a try? Arrange a consultation today!