Can CROS Aid Help with Tinnitus?

Hello. I am new to this forum. In fact, I'm new to the community of tinnitus sufferers. 5 months ago I was in a horrible auto accident that, along with many other injuries, left me deaf in one ear. Auditory nerve is permanently damaged. I found this manageable as I was also dealing with TBI.

But two months after the accident I started experiencing what I now know as severe tinnitus. I had never heard of tinnitus. I thought the harsh sounds I was hearing in my head was related to the brain injury. I have since learned that it is trauma induced tinnitus.

The American Tinnitus Association states that many patients with tinnitus accompanied by hearing loss have experienced some level of relief from tinnitus with the use of hearing aids. I have an appointment to be fitted for a CROS aid. It will not aid my deaf ear in hearing. It will direct the sounds on that side of my body to the one good ear.

My question is this...can a CROS aid system help reduce my tinnitus like other hearing aids?

Or because it is not assisting that ear to hear does the benefit that others have experienced not come in to play with my situation?

I'm trying to avoid spending thousands of dollars on something that will not help me with what ails me the most.
Thank you for any input you can provide.

 

Good question. I was born deaf in one ear. Now after all this time I have tinnitus in the other. I was told by an audiologist that this wouldn't help but that is just one person. Curious if anyone else has any knowledge.

 

I doubt it will, unfortunately, because it will simply reroute the sounds to the "good ear", which isn't the one affected by the bad Tinnitus.
This being said, the brain is complicated and there are a lot of things happening downstream from the cochlea signals where the brain mixes left and right channels to build our perception, so I'm not sure anyone can say with certainty what the result is going to be.
If it's something you can have a free trial on (like hearing aids), then why not try? I would be surprised if it made things worse.

 

Also deaf in one ear, had the option of CROS aid, decided not to have it, didn't think it was a good idea to give all work over to the good ear, never heard of any evidence to say it would help tinnitus, don't see why it would, but you never know, give a try see and what you think.

 

I'm sure they would let you try it out.
When I did a talk to Amplifon in Hanley about tinnitus for the BTA tea for tinnitus awareness week February 2016 We also got shown some of the hearing aids and CROS aids.
I would go and try it and see what you think unless you can manage ok at the moment...lots of love glynis

 

Thank you all for your input. I'm still on the fence about trying CROS aids. But I'm desperate to lower the intensity of this sound in my head. I will check today with the audiologist about a trial period. I might just try it if I can return them if they do not help. In the meantime I need to explore ways to cope with tinnitus. It's especially loud today.
Thank you again.

 

Hi @mamakat ! Welcome to the forum.
I have been unilaterally deaf since 2013. Early on, I tested for a baha using a simulator but I actually scored better without the device. I recently sampled the cros aid. My audiologist allowed me to take it and test it out for a week. I wore it into noisy places like restaurants to see if it would help me hear in those types of environments where I have the most difficulty hearing. Unfortunately, I had more trouble hearing with the cros than without it. My tinnitus is in my deaf ear and the deaf ear reacts to sound (from my good ear), so increasing the sound increases the noise for me. Do you hear the tinnitus in your good ear or in your deaf ear?
I think it would be worthwhile for you to sample the cros. I understand that some people do benefit from using it and the increase in hearing could help to lower the tinnitus for some people. All of our situations are uniquely complex so we will have varied outcomes. I am so sorry that you have to deal with tinnitus on top of the other injuries you suffered. I hope things will get better for you.

 

Dear Lorac,
Thank you for your response! I am thrilled to find someone with a similar situation. Yes, my tinnitus is on the deaf side. So possibly I will experience the same outcome. You opted not to use the CROS aid and were able to be refunded? I hope that is the same for me if this doesn't work. I have yet to call and confirm this. Will do though. I am also hoping that as my injuries complete healing the severity of the tinnitus calms down. Can only hope. Can you share with me any coping tricks or what you have found to be helpful for you? Thank you again for your feedback.

 

@mamakat ,
I did not pay for the cros hearing aids. I asked the audiologist to allow me to sample them for a week before making any decisions regarding purchase. I strongly suspected the cros would not work for me because I had already tested poorly for the baha. I know that some people with single sided deafness are helped greatly with the baha or cros aids so let's hope they will be helpful to you.
I think the passing of time is what has helped me the most as far as coping goes. You have been living with the tinnitus for a short amount of time and most people have high anxiety in the beginning. Losing half of your hearing is really scary at first and you must also have additional stress because of the other injuries from your accident. I hope that time will help to heal you in many ways.
I also sought help from a psychologist and that was very helpful.

 

Thank you Lorac.