Tinnitus devices for hearing loss

Tinnitus devices for Hearing Loss Sound enrichment is a tool used by most hearing clinics as part of management for tinnitus.

Patients can also use sound enrichment without professional support to enhance their own tinnitus habituation and lead to reduction of the disturbing effects of the tinnitus.

Using sound to manage tinnitus does require some understanding of the neurophysiologic model of tinnitus so the benefits of the correct sound choice are optimized and the reasoning behind sound enrichment is fully understood.

Sound enrichment is a useful tool for situations where you find that the tinnitus becomes more intrusive in quiet activity situations like reading or working, or on retiring to bed, or if sleep is disturbed and as you wake into a quiet bedroom in the morning.

Normally for all of us with or without tinnitus, in quiet situations, the brain naturally becomes more sensitive to detect faint sounds. This in turn increases the awareness of sound around us including those hearing tinnitus. So if anyone goes and sits in a very quiet place you will notice yourself searching (listening) for sound further afield. This is a natural phenomenon we are never aware of until the ‘intrusive tinnitus’ is the sound we hear. On many occasions the tinnitus is perceived as more noticeable in the night or first thing in the morning. This is indication that the contrast in environmental sounds is significant to the tinnitus perception i.e. the contrast of noise in quiet – as in the visual contrast of a candle flame in a dark or well lit room.

Using sound helps a person to become less aware of the tinnitus signal as the brain’s sound filtering mechanism adapts and adjusts to accept the signal as normal.

It is important that any sound used is low level and non-intrusive and that you can still hear the tinnitus whilst using the low level noise, as the brain cannot filter out something it cannot hear.

There are many methods of sound enrichment individual to your lifestyle and personal needs.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with sounds but be aware normally it takes a few days to adjust to any new sound input in your environment.

Natural environmental sounds   

open window Time outdoors (double glazing creates an unnatural silence) - listen to the traffic or trees rustling.

Water features, indoors and outdoors.

It is not helpful to remove environmental sounds because your tinnitus seems annoying, it is the reaction to the tinnitus that’s annoying and your sensitivity becomes increased to other sounds.

Avoiding sound will only raise the awareness of tinnitus not help it?

Household devices       

FM bedside radios off-station (white noise) radio, TV (but only use when normally listening, as they are stimulating) fans (ceiling or desktop) fish tanks computer ticking clock etc CDs, tapes of relaxation and nature sounds, MP3 download of white noise. Be aware that variable content and switching off may not be helpful, you need to experiment, possibly through local audio library to achieve desired choice and experimentation at low cost.

There are also devices you can buy producing natural sounds, these make natural sounds like sea waves and babbling brooks which are relaxing and non-intrusive and you soon adapt to the sound, just as you would to new sounds on holiday or in a new home.

There are a few outlets to obtain devices and I always suggest shopping around as some devices are cheaper than others at different outlets. Please carry out your own enquiries before buying.

Important things to consider when buying a hearing aids device are: Sound   

acceptable comfortable quality no invasive or disturbing loops of sound (like birds chirping, seagulls, thunder etc)

Volume 

reduces easily to very low levels, as once you get into a quiet environment i.e. bed, a preset volume of sound appears to increase and often needs reducing further for comfort and to ensure its below the tinnitus - NOT masking it

Facility for   

continual use through the night if required, or a timer (continual is preferable especially if waking is a problem) mains adaptor (saves the expense of batteries) jack plug for pillow speaker - especially if hearing loss is present and requires high volume to be heard by user.