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Tinnitus adivice with hearing aids

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Let me add this.
There is no one size fits all with tinnitus.
You’ll have to figure out what works best for you.

In reply to @djd_oz

@djd_oz said:

Did the tinnitus disapear when you put on hearing aids imediately when you first tried hearing aids or it took sometime for the brain to adjust?

For me it took time it adjust, and it’s not always constant. I’ve been tuned into it today, and it was pretty low this morning and through the afternoon, but this evening, it’s starting to rage again. Tomorrow may be different. Anyway, overall, I think the hearing aids really help.

In reply to @djd_oz

@djd_oz said:

it sounds like they added a generative sequencer playing some sound samples into the hearing aid

Fractal sounds :slight_smile: Fractals are super interesting beautiful mathematical geometries.

My tinnitus experience was complex , mostly caused by a misdiagnosed ear problem. I was lucky that, after a long time, I found an that was able to find the main cause of it.

I don’t remember how quickly it helped, it wasn’t instantaneous but it wasn’t a long time either.

In reply to @PeterH

I’ve been in the tinnitus trenches for years. The line I kept getting was “there’s nothing we can do.” I slept with the TV on just to drown out the screaming in my head.

This May I tried a new audiologist. They put demo hearing aids on me at the first visit and—no exaggeration—within minutes my tinnitus dropped to a faint buzz. I ended up with Oticon Intent 1s. I wear them 16–18 hours a day, and for the first time in a decade I can fall asleep without the TV.

A few specifics that may help you:

  • Will hearing aids help if one ear has little loss? They can. Even with minimal loss, gentle amplification plus a tinnitus sound program can calm things down and balance the two ears. I have mild high-frequency loss in my left ear and slight loss in the right (around 6–6.5 kHz). Fitting both ears helped the brain “even out” the noise.

  • Do you really need 2–3 months to adapt? That’s a fair estimate. I felt relief on day one, but the real change was over a few weeks as my brain stopped latching onto the tinnitus. Think weeks to a couple of months for the “I barely notice it anymore” phase.

  • Maskers / sleep sounds: I use the built-in tinnitus masker program in my hearing aids on “bad” days. That keeps the ringing in check through the evening so, by the time I take the aids out, the tinnitus is barely noticeable and I can fall asleep.

  • Triggers & habits: On days I’m dehydrated or stressed, the tinnitus creeps up. Staying hydrated, managing stress, keeping neck/jaw tension in check, and avoiding complete silence all help. Pay attention to your own triggers (caffeine, alcohol, salt can matter for some).

  • What to ask your audiologist for:

    • Real-ear measurements (so the prescription is accurate).
    • A dedicated tinnitus program you can adjust yourself.
    • Low-gain, open-fit setup if your right ear is near-normal.
    • A clear trial/return window so you can bail if it doesn’t help.

Bottom line: if it’s within budget, try the hearing aids—with a real trial period. For me, it was the difference between constant noise and a life where tinnitus is background static I rarely think about. I also didn’t realize how much high-frequency detail I was missing until I got properly fit.

Edited

I’ve had very high frequency tinnitus (ca. 15 - 18 KHz) since birth due to a neurological cause. Masking with white noise, I first tried a couple of moths ago at the suggestion of an audiologist. I go in the quietest room I can find and set the white noise level on the hearing instruments to be barely audible.

It seems that neuroadaptation has begun. When the hearing instruments are on a different setting, or off, the tinnitus is less noticeable- unless i consciously think about it. (Like now…)

So, my suggestion is to try masking- with your choice of sound. But be sure to give yourself a lot of time to adapt before condemning the idea.

Hope This Helps!
Paul
PS: If you happen to have a computer using macOS, it has a built in background sound generator that you may wish to experiment with. It helped me choose which masking noise to have in the hearing instruments.

Edited

OcramSagev asked how one determines the frequency or frequencies of the tinnitus sounds.

Because my tinnitus is caused in the brain, as opposed to ear, the frequencies have been determined by Audiologist or by Neurotologist via testing. Basically, they play an increasing or descending tone and I signal when the generated tone matches the tinnitus sound. Low tech? Yup! But the best they’ve got. (At least as of the last time I was tested…)

For many people, Inverse Audio Frequency Determination can be used to spot the tinnitus frequency.

Simplified Explanation: A tone of increasing or decreasing pitch will be generated. At the exact frequency when the tinnitus stops, the generated tone is at the inverse of the tinnitus frequency.

My use of words is poor, so perhaps the graph attached below will illustrate where my words failed.
On the graph, where the blue line meets the green line- that frequency is cancelled. One can not hear it.

Sometimes, with ear caused tinnitus with a wavering or steady frequency, I understand that Band Stop Filters (also called Notch Filters or Rejection Filters) can be used. Signai has something they call Notch Therapy, The hearing device will amplify all frequencies except the one matching the tinnitus. It sounds promising!

Paul

Inverse Sound Graph

Please accept my apologies for the above post’s (answering how to determine tinnitus frequency) errors in typing and spelling. I can’t figure out how to edit my post,

One Error-
Where I wrote “Neurotologist”, the computer changed it to “Neurologist”. The following word “Otologist” got nuked by the computer.

Again, I apologize for my typing errors. Paul

No worries! Auto-correct sucks sometimes. :slightly_smiling_face:

If you mean you can’t figure out the process of accessing the “edit” feature, you should see a pencil-shaped icon at the bottom of each post you make. Click on that icon, and make edits to your post by correcting the text of your post inside the box that opens up. Save your edit after correction of your post by clicking on “Save Edit” below the correction box. If your screen displays the same as mine, you’ll have a correction frame at the lower left and an easier-to-read section at the lower right (which you can scroll on independently to read your text to look for where to make corrections).

In reply to @OcramSagev

@OcramSagev said:

It’s hard for me to understand why Widex did not include them with the allures .

It’s something to do with the processing required for the Zen tones causing lag that doesn’t play well with the pure sound sort latency, but they had a non pure sound program in the last generation. Maybe it will come back. The allures feel like they are still beta version.

In reply to @AttilaDaPun

Thanks, AtillaDaPun!
Unfortunately, I’v enough pencil icon for editing. Perhaps that is because I am rather a new member. Maybe it’ll appear for me in the future.
Thanks Again for helping. I’ll be on the lookout for the pencil.
Paul

If it was there, it would be to the left of the 3 dots. The dots should be just to the left of the word “Reply,” which has a curved arrow next to it. Some people might think the edit instrument looks more like a crayon than a pencil.

@djd_oz said:

n and/or the tinnitus masker solution only work when you have them on? That is if you take them off or tur

I believe that that the better hearing ear may also have some benefit from tinnitus if it has some increased volume from that aid.

I heard tinnitus improvements right away, especially if the increase is substantial, but less so if correction was not as it should be.

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