Often I get asked…. “Can anything be done about this awful ringing in my ears?” Well yes. Tinnitus Sound Therapy is a real solution. It provides the patient a way to combat and adjust as their tinnitus shifts. For many patients who suffer from tinnitus they also share that it gets louder at certain times of the day. Some experience the sounds that they hear to actually change pitch.
Tinnitus, ringing in your ears or various other sounds or sensations affect people differently. While it doesn’t bother some, it may drive others absolutely crazy! It interrupts our sleep and our peace of mind. Tinnitus management therapies has developed greatly over the years. Back in the 1980’s Starkey Hearing Technologies produced a “tinnitus Masker” that looked like a custom hearing instrument. It has a control knob for the hearing loss volume and another one that would allow the user to fine tune the pitch of a tone/ noise that would be produced by the instrument in a effort to eliminate or cancel out the sound in their head. I remember having a patient that had 2 sets of these instruments because his head noise was so debilitating that if one of them broke down he was flat on his back in bed…unable to function. Today, as technology and therapies have evolved we are able to test and attack tinnitus in a much more advanced and accurate process. Tinnitus therapy solutions are now available in every style of instruments. From over the ear to invisible in the ear.
Tinnitus is a common disorder that may be strongly associated with age-related hearing loss. There are many different sounds or sensations that people hear. When you seek a hearing health care professional to determine a treatment plan they will determine if it is subjective or objective tinnitus.
Subjective tinnitus is usually the type where you hear ringing, hissing, buzzing; you have a false perception of sound. Often this is due to the absence of acoustic stimulus. Thus, if you have a hearing loss then you are not hearing all of the sounds in your environment. Often hearing instruments help to lesson the tinnitus. If you have thumping or a pulsing sound it is usually an objective type of tinnitus. The sounds are produced by an internal function in our bodies circulatory system. We can often hear them with a stethoscope. Whether objective or subjective the various sounds of tinnitus are unsettling but it is rare that tinnitus is caused by a serious medical condition. It is estimated that 99% of all tinnitus is subjective.
If you experience ringing or noise in the ear suddenly; perhaps from physical trauma or a concussive event then you should seek immediate care to rule out any emergency medical issues that may be present.
Everyone should get a base-line hearing evaluation. A patient profile is set up and this information will be valuable to your hearing health care provider in the years to come. Up to 90% of people with tinnitus have some level of noise-induced hearing loss. Contact your hearing health care provider today and take a pro-active approach to your “better hearing health”. To Hear Better Is To Live Better!
