Seeking Relief: Innovative Treatments for Tinnitus Management

Have you recently noticed the symptoms of tinnitus? This can cause you to hear sounds that aren’t there. While there is not a cure for tinnitus, there are treatment options available that can help you manage these symptoms of your underlying condition.

Hearing Aids with Masking Features

If you are experiencing hearing loss, then it’s likely that you have already been recommended hearing aids by an audiologist. In some cases, tinnitus will develop at the same time as hearing loss. If this is the case, then it’s important to be aware that hearing aids can be used as a form of treatment. Talk to your audiologist about a masking feature for your hearing aids if you are experiencing tinnitus. These are capable of emitting a noise at the same frequency as your tinnitus, therefore blocking out the noise. It can either make the noise seem quieter or simply less distracting.

Sound Machines

An alternative approach to addressing your hearing concerns involves the use of sound machines, which employ a concept akin to the masking technology found in hearing aids. Unlike hearing aids, these devices are external and can be strategically placed around your living space or in your bedroom. To explore this option further, consider discussing the potential incorporation of a sound machine with your audiologist during your next consultation. An audiologist will be able to answer any questions you have regarding sound machines, and if it will be the best treatment option for you.

Lifestyle Modifications

Alternatively, you might want to think about modifying your lifestyle to treat tinnitus. While there is no evidence to suggest that tinnitus is caused by lifestyle factors various studies have shown that hearing loss could seem worse due to things like:

Medication alterations

• • Smoking and drinking

Caffeine

Making any changes to your intake of substances like this could have an impact on your tinnitus. You find that the noise seems quieter or flares up far less often. An audiologist may recommend that you experiment with lifestyle choices like this to see which, if any, changes, have a positive impact.

Earwax Removal

It’s worth noting that not all tinnitus is related or caused by hearing loss. It’s possible to develop hearing loss without any significant changes to your hearing. This could be due to a buildup of earwax. When earwax builds up and hardens, it can begin to impact your ability to hear and may cause you to develop the signs of tinnitus including hearing noises that aren’t there. A buildup of earwax is highly treatable. An audiologist can drip a warm substance into your ear so that the earwax softens and drips out.

Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)

Finally, you could consider using tinnitus retraining therapy to treat your tinnitus. This is about training the brain to not recognize the noise, instead treating it to something like the sound of a ticking clock. While a ticking clock is loud enough to hear, we don’t pick up on it because our brain recognizes that the noise is both constant and insignificant.