Tinnitus, often described as ringing, buzzing or humming in the ears, is a common sensation experienced by many individuals. It can manifest in various forms, from intermittent to constant sounds and may differ in intensity for each person. These phantom noises can affect daily activities, like enjoying quiet moments at home or engaging in conversations with friends.
Our hearing professionals at Earzlink understand the impact that tinnitus can have on your quality of life and are dedicated to providing support and guidance. By working together, we can explore personalized strategies to manage tinnitus symptoms and improve your overall well-being.
Treating the Cause
Tinnitus has many different causes. They range from simple hearing loss and aging to more complicated conditions like vascular disorders and benign tumors. That’s why we begin our process by figuring out the underlying cause of your tinnitus. We’ll do so by going over your medical history and lifestyle to look for potential causes. The answers we get from this process play a role in the treatment option we recommend.
Common Tinnitus Treatments
Even though there is no full cure for tinnitus, there are several ways to address symptoms and enhance quality of life considerably. Our team will take into account your specific symptoms and recommend single or tandem solutions to improve your day-to-day life! Some common treatments include:
Sound Therapy
Sound therapy uses various sounds to train the brain to re-focus its attention away from your tinnitus. This is also sometimes called acoustic therapy. When the brain is no longer so focused on your tinnitus, you’ll feel a sense of relief and may be able to get back to enjoying life again.
Hearing Aids
We also sometimes recommend hearing aids to people who are struggling with tinnitus. Modern hearing aids often come equipped with tinnitus-masking features so you block out as much of the unwanted noise as possible.
If you have co-occurring hearing loss, we can find a hearing aid for you that addresses both problems simultaneously. But we may still recommend a hearing aid even if your hearing is fine.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)
Finally, we may also recommend TRT. This is a kind of therapy that attempts to retrain the brain into perceiving the tinnitus in a different way. We may recommend behavioral therapy as part of this process to help you cope with any emotional difficulties you may be experiencing because of your tinnitus, including depression, stress or anger.