Do you think masking has allowed you to break from the anxiety related to tinnitus?

I am going to get hearing aids tomorrow with maskers. I am trying to get feedback from those of you who mask most of the day, no matter how you do it, I understand it does not cure you, but do you feel it has allowed you to break from the anxiety of thinking about it all the time. I am three months in and not expecting miracles, listening to music very low can usually mask my sounds but I still battle with heavy anxiety daily and just want to start moving forward and stop obsessing. Thanks
Kevin

 

What's up Kevin , I mask at home all the time I have nature sounds playing on my iPhone even to sleep I do the same thing. During the day at work there's enough going on to mask the T most of the time ....it's nice to forget about the T for hours then you check in on it and bang it hits you like a hammer......wish I could get my brain never to check in on it.

 

Kevin,

I have hearing aids with built in maskers. I believe they do help a lot to reduce anxiety. They give you a feeling of control.

Before you decide on the actual product make sure you know the frequency of your tinnitus. I found that my first two hearing aid products were not capable of masking above 7000Hz. My other recommendation is to choose a product that allows for detailed contouring of the masking sound and independent control of the masking volume. You also need about 4 different programs. You can have tinnitus masking in all 4 but you need one that is dedicated to just tinnitus. You can then use this program for sleep. Make sure the audiologist sets the hearing aids so that you cannot accidentally change programs while you sleep. Lastly I recommend that you choose a product that can be controlled by a physical remote and/or an App. Pressing buttons or using telephone tones to change volume or programs is very cumbersome.

 

A few years back, masking was all I did for the first year. A CD player at bed side playing crashing waves for my sleep. If that was not enough for the real loud & high pitched days, I wore ear buds of my ipod playing heavy rain or shower sounds. In fact the ipod masking was used heavily during waking hours when T was (still is) the loudest. Without that, my anxiety/panic prone brain would just cave into panic attacks. The ipod also allowed me to have mobile masking the whole day through. At work, my PC was loaded with a free sound generator 'aire freshener' and I listen to waves, waves, running water all the time even during work. I had informed those working around me that I have severely loud high pitched T and that I needed masking with head phones even at work. I am a bit lucky there because I work as a contract computer consultant at a major client and so I don't have to worry about any employee rules, LOL. Yes, masking saved me from swallowing lots of nerve calming pills back then.