Certain Hearing Aids Can Bring Some Comfort for Many Suffering from Tinnitus (in My Opinion)

[Samantha R]

@JasonP
So I spoke with this audiologist that I saw.
She said that the hearing aids won't work for me because I don't have hearing loss. She said that even if she amplifies the frequencies where I have a slight loss, it will amplify other frequencies and noises will sound louder to me.
What do you think?
I'm more interested in how this works and not bothered if hearing aids don't help a little as the tinnitus is not that bothersome.

 

[JasonP]

@JasonP
So I spoke with this audiologist that I saw.
She said that the hearing aids won't work for me because I don't have hearing loss. She said that even if she amplifies the frequencies where I have a slight loss, it will amplify other frequencies and noises will sound louder to me.
What do you think?
I'm more interested in how this works and not bothered if hearing aids don't help a little as the tinnitus is not that bothersome.

As long as they are amplified to a safe level and you don't have hyperacusis I think it is worth a try. Especially the 12khz ones. Ask if it is safe to be corrected to -10db hearing. I think my brother has something like that. My thought is that a little bit of amplification could help in semi-quiet rooms but then when you go to other environments you can turn the amplification down. Whatever you do be careful!! Don't have them amplify them to an unsafe level.

 

[just1morething]

@JasonP
So I spoke with this audiologist that I saw.
She said that the hearing aids won't work for me because I don't have hearing loss. She said that even if she amplifies the frequencies where I have a slight loss, it will amplify other frequencies and noises will sound louder to me.
What do you think?
I'm more interested in how this works and not bothered if hearing aids don't help a little as the tinnitus is not that bothersome.

@Samantha R, Don't you get a 45 day trial? That is how it is in the U.S. I tried hearing aids years ago and there was a $300 fee when I returned them. I'm not sure if the same fee applies for my online one's as I forgot to ask. I think it was called a dispensing fee. I think they are worth trying for you with a masker included. I like mine so far. I want to get away from meds (and their side effects) if possible.

 

[just1morething]

Had a bad noise today so took Gaba Calm. Seemed to work pretty well. Maybe that and hearing aids? I took 3 ibuprofen so maybe that helped also. Gaba Calm may have side effects with 750 mg dose.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/gaba-calm-for-tinnitus.21424/

 

[Samantha R]

@just1morething
Yes, I can get a free trial, I think I'll try a different audiologist though.
I've made a time with the one I saw just after my onset and they can do extended audiograms as well. The one I saw last week didn't really seem to understand or care what I was trying to do.
I'm the same - med free at the moment.
I'll try the GABA Calm thanks for the tip. I'm glad it could give you some relief.
I'm also investigating a cortisol link with my tinnitus. I took an short course of prednisolone recently for a nasty rash and the most bothersome sound (hissing in my head) was significantly lowered while taking it. I'd
consider myself cured if that was my tinnitus all the time.

 

[Tinker Bell]

@just1morething
Yes, I can get a free trial, I think I'll try a different audiologist though.
I've made a time with the one I saw just after my onset and they can do extended audiograms as well. The one I saw last week didn't really seem to understand or care what I was trying to do.
I'm the same - med free at the moment.
I'll try the GABA Calm thanks for the tip. I'm glad it could give you some relief.
I'm also investigating a cortisol link with my tinnitus. I took an short course of prednisolone recently for a nasty rash and the most bothersome sound (hissing in my head) was significantly lowered while taking it. I'd
consider myself cured if that was my tinnitus all the time.

At what frequencies is your hearing at 10dB? Anything at or above 15dB is considered normal, even for children. Is it across all frequencies or only higher frequencies? I have 75dB loss at 6k and audiologists do not even recommend hearing aids as a necessity for me.

 

[JasonP]

At what frequencies is your hearing at 10dB? Anything at or above 15dB is considered normal, even for children. Is it across all frequencies or only higher frequencies? I have 75dB loss at 6k and audiologists do not even recommend hearing aids as a necessity for me.

I would suggest going to a hearing aid specialist...having a -75db loss corrected could help. My hearing is better than that and I am helped by hearing aids. You could even go and test it out in store to see if it makes a difference. Bring a smartphone or mp3 player to the hearing aid place and have them program some hearing aids for you (they should have some there) and play the music or sounds or perhaps go outside and see if the ambient noise helps you hear less of the tinnitus. That is my suggestion. Just make sure they program them right! Also, I don't know if it is safe to correct a -75db loss all at once but I'm no expert....I know with some people they do a little bit of correction and then you come back for more correction because your ears aren't used to hearing that "loud".

 

[GregCA]

I have 75dB loss at 6k and audiologists do not even recommend hearing aids as a necessity for me.

That's a bit baffling to me.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I would suggest going to a hearing aid specialist...having a -75db loss corrected could help. My hearing is better than that and I am helped by hearing aids. You could even go and test it out in store to see if it makes a difference. Bring a smartphone or mp3 player to the hearing aid place and have them program some hearing aids for you (they should have some there) and play the music or sounds or perhaps go outside and see if the ambient noise helps you hear less of the tinnitus. That is my suggestion. Just make sure they program them right! Also, I don't know if it is safe to correct a -75db loss all at once but I'm no expert....I know with some people they do a little bit of correction and then you come back for more correction because your ears aren't used to hearing that "loud".

I did. Multiple audiologists. Even did a two week trial. I honestly did not notice a significant difference.

My loss is in one ear, maybe that is the difference. The other ear has excellent hearing and seems to compensate. Speech falls below 6k and I have great speech recognition in both ears. In my bad ear, what I have at 4k is above average. I don't have a gradual slope of loss, I have 5k and then a plunge to 75k.

 

[JasonP]

I did. Multiple audiologists. Even did a two week trial. I honestly did not notice a significant difference.

My loss is in one ear, maybe that is the difference. The other ear has excellent hearing and seems to compensate. Speech falls below 6k and I have great speech recognition in both ears. In my bad ear, what I have at 4k is above average. I don't have a gradual slope of loss, I have 5k and then a plunge to 75k.

Oh wow, how come you didn't buy the hearing aids if they helped? Do you think 12khz hearing aids would be better?

 

[Tinker Bell]

Oh wow, how come you didn't buy the hearing aids if they helped? Do you think 12khz hearing aids would be better?

They did not help. There was no significant noticeable difference, and the aid did go up to 12hz. I even had a high frequency hearing test in order to program the aid.

Actually one audiologist recommended hearing aids . . . and he of course sold them. Every single other audiologist that I saw — whether in a private ENT office or at multiple major teaching hospitals — did not recommend an aid. Oops, I forgot there was one audiologist who sold aids but given my hyperacusis at the time she recommended waiting a year.

Through a concern with my child, I recently came across an audiologist I really liked. We briefly discussed whether hearing aids can contribute to additional hearing loss, which I think is an interesting question. I am planning to have her do my annual hearing test later this year and get her opinion on whether an aid would be beneficial. She does not sell aids, but she will not hesitate to recommend them if they will truly help.

 

[JasonP]

They did not help. There was no significant noticeable difference, and the aid did go up to 12hz. I even had a high frequency hearing test in order to program the aid.

Actually one audiologist recommended hearing aids . . . and he of course sold them. Every single other audiologist that I saw — whether in a private ENT office or at multiple major teaching hospitals — did not recommend an aid. Oops, I forgot there was one audiologist who sold aids but given my hyperacusis at the time she recommended waiting a year.

Through a concern with my child, I recently came across an audiologist I really liked. We briefly discussed whether hearing aids can contribute to additional hearing loss, which I think is an interesting question. I am planning to have her do my annual hearing test later this year and get her opinion on whether an aid would be beneficial. She does not sell aids, but she will not hesitate to recommend them if they will truly help.

I apologize. I misread your thread. I'm sorry it didn't help you. I hope you can find something that can help.

 

[Tinker Bell]

I apologize. I misread your thread. I'm sorry it didn't help you. I hope you can find something that can help.

Thanks! Early on I talked IRL to others with SSHL and tinnitus and I was shocked by how many did not use a hearing aid. I couldn't imagine why they wouldn't want an aid.

Yet here I am nearly 18 months later with no immediate plans for one either.

 

[Rajin]

I got only left side a Aticon , but I have hook to I phone it play all the nice sound on any app . I keep the volume on 1 , ringer is off vibrate. It work good than the masker in the hearing aid. do help a lot .

 

[Starthrower]

Absolutely, it is so important. I don't need them to hear voices but they certainly help "get rid" of some of my tinnitus when I wear them.

@JasonP when you remove your hearing aids at night does your tinnitus seem more intrusive?

I had a good friend with a CI. She was completely deaf in both ears following an auto accident that left her in a coma for about a year. She suffered such horrible tinnitus without being able to hear anything. She got the CI and although she could hear certain sounds they were mechanical tinny sounds even the chirping of the birds. She had to remove the device at night and told me the tinnitus would always be much louder.

 

[JasonP]

@JasonP when you remove your hearing aids at night does your tinnitus seem more intrusive?

I had a good friend with a CI. She was completely deaf in both ears following an auto accident that left her in a coma for about a year. She suffered such horrible tinnitus without being able to hear anything. She got the CI and although she could hear certain sounds they were mechanical tinny sounds even the chirping of the birds. She had to remove the device at night and told me the tinnitus would always be much louder.

Well, I actually do something that maybe most people don't do with hearing aids. I usually sleep with mine on. Sometimes I will turn the maskers on and fall asleep and other times I won't. When I take the hearing aids out for a shower however, the tinnitus does "get louder". After getting out of the shower and putting my hearing aids in, the tinnitus "gets lower". This does not "get rid" of all my tinnitus but it helps.

 

[Samantha R]

@Tinker Bell
I have a 30db dip at 8khz in my right ear, and a gradual decline from there (I had an extended audiogram done).
I was really wanting to "experiment" and see if amplifying the lost frequencies made the tinnitus less noticeable.
My hearing is most definitely considered "normal" by the standards.

 

[Contrast]

@Tinker Bell
I have a 30db dip at 8khz in my right ear, and a gradual decline from there (I had an extended audiogram done).
I was really wanting to "experiment" and see if amplifying the lost frequencies made the tinnitus less noticeable.
My hearing is most definitely considered "normal" by the standards.

Frequencies above 8k are extremely important and and hearing that cuts off at 8k most likely also indicates trouble hearing in noisy back ground environments. This loss can certainly lead to to tinnitus.

 

[Contrast]

I'm fed up with audiologist and their 8000hz pure tonal meme that barely covers the range of human hearing.

As new researcher about hearing loss having more to do with damaged synaptic connections causing "mushy hearing" in complex noise environments as opposed to standard audiology test that only claim hearing loss as the inability to hear tonal/soft sounds without any background noise.
https://www.aro.org/general/custom.asp?page=KujawaLiberman

In a nutshell what I'm trying to complain about is that large degrees of synapse damage causing mushy hearing and hair cell damage above the 8k range causing deafness above speech frequencies can be acquired and the local audiologist tells the patient they have no hearing loss. A lot of people on this forum list tinnitus as "unknown when it is certainly hearing loss

Hair cell damage usually targets the higher frequencies first. Ultra high frequencies are a sort of back up as in they die first in response to acoustic trauma instead of 0-8000hz speech frequencies, not to mention many genres of music use high frequencies above 8k.

Hearing aids aren't the final answer either, people should be interested cutting edge science like Frequency Therapeutics cochlear hair cell regeneration trial and Decibel and Otonomy up coming trials and ideas for repairing synapses. Hearing aids are only the best option for now
https://www.cochlearpro.com

 

[Samantha R]

@Contrast
I couldn't agree more with you.
My frustrations were not only that I was told I don't have hearing loss, but this particular audiologist did not understand why the tinnitus would bother me so much that I'd be looking at wearing hearing aids when I didn't need them.
When I explained what I was trying to do, she tried to talk me out of it and told me I should spend the money on a holiday instead.
I don't think she was trying to be patronising, but that's how it came across. She did give me a referral for a $200 an hour mindfulness coach though! Lol. I like mindfulness but might see what I can find on the internet before investing that kind of money.
When she investigated the hearing aids for me she came back and said that "nobody makes them to 16khz". Well, I only asked for ones up to 12khz to start with! So I don't think she really wanted to help me in the first place.
I most certainly have "hidden hearing loss", a high chance that this is most likely what is causing my tinnitus (though I have another avenue that I'm exploring at the moment as I respond to prednisolone).
I hope we see other options in the future, there certainly are some promising treatments in the pipeline, then they can shove their hearing aids where the sun don't shine.

 

[Starthrower]

This does not "get rid" of all my tinnitus but it helps.

Thanks @JasonP that is all that matters. Finding something that helps us.

 

[JasonP]

Thanks @JasonP that is all that matters. Finding something that helps us.

You're welcome. I hope you can find something that helps.

 

[Starthrower]

Hi @JasonP. Oh yes for me it was a lot of trying stuff. I found a way to make and use my own music therapy and use it to this day while I work out.