Your experience using Resound Tinnitus solution

I have another make (Phonak). It has a tinnitus solution too, but I haven’t used it before.
My new hearing practitioner turned it on. I found it was a new disturbing sound replacing an old disturbing sound. I had him turn it off.

Thanks for your help. The cost isn’t a barrier but don’t want to spend the time or money if it’s not worth while. It seems like it isn’t much of a solution to minimize the tinnitus problem.

You always need a baseline with tinnitus, because experiences and levels vary tremendously. I have moderate+ tinnitus (which, to me, means that my tinnitus is loud enough to make whispering and speech that is soft or distant less comprehensible, even with aids). Mine came on gradually over decades. It’s a hiss at multiple distinct frequencies for me.

I have ReSound Quattros with the tinnitus app feature. My audi enabled it only when I asked, and somewhat reluctantly, I thought, as if he didn’t think it would be helpful. It wasn’t. I wouldn’t pay anything extra for it. I haven’t used it in a year or more.

It doesn’t do anything to neutralize, reduce, or remove the sound of tinnitus. It’s a masking device, IMO, similar to using an electronic device that generates white/brown/pink noise, or birds chirping, ocean waves, etc… You can get a similar effect with a smartphone app and Bluetooth to the aids.

The tinnitus feature overlays additional sound on top of the tinnitus. Some people find this helpful, but it’s cognitively helpful in those cases as a distraction, not an auditory solution. For me, it just makes speech comprehension more challenging, as any extra background sound does.

Other users may have other views. I think patients whose tinnitus came on very suddenly are in a different place. They tend to be more annoyed by tinnitus and may benefit from a distraction. Others like me are used to it and not seeking distraction, only removal or reduction, which is not at this time possible.

But I think it’s telling that Costco does not offer it. They don’t want the hassles of servicing it, or refunding people who are unhappy with it. And they don’t think it’s something most tinnitus patients will benefit from.

Thanks for your detailed experience. My tinnitus came on quickly, started with reduced hearing and faint ~white noise in one ear. ENT doctor tried a treatment inserting a syringe with a steroid through the ear drum filling the middle/inner ear canal. I had the worst case of vertigo ever from the movement of the liquid in the ear but no improvement in tinnitus. I’m now planning on meeting with a different doctor to look if a tumor is a cause of the tinnitus.

My tinnitus is a fairly constant white noise and very noticeable to me when there is little noise around me and not preoccupied of some sort.

Doing a bit of research I haven’t found anything pointing to the sound filter/masking applications providing much help. Thanks again, Jay

I’ve been working in property management forever. I hate the noise generators that are put in open concept offices to ensure privacy. I hated the tinnitus feature and instantly had it turned off when my hearing aid practitioner asked if he should turn it on.

My home is open concept. Between my tinnitus and a noisy kitchen exhaust fan I miss a lot of talk.

Hi DaveL. sorry to hear your tinnitus is so complex. That cannot be easy to deal with. I am “lucky” in that mine it a fairly constant high pitch and and, even though it seems to be getting worse, currently I can forget about it the majority of the time. Masking might work differently for me. Ironic story on the 3M ear defenders alright I have some trepidation, but I am looking forward to getting them.