Hearing Aids

Hi Dr. Hobbs,

I've had my hearing aids only for 3 days. So far, I see no difference in regards to my tinnitus. I do notice a huge difference in how much I can hear! I didn't realize how much I was missing.
Do you have any idea how long it took people to notice a difference in their tinnitus. I know the study examples are about people who wore hearing aids for two years, but I'm just wondering if you know how long I should remain optimistic ha ha

 

@devonlee what level is your loss at? Is at all frequencies?

 

Hi Sam,

My hearing loss is across all frequencies but is just minor hearing loss. The most frustrating part right now is not knowing why I have hearing loss. Waiting for ENT....

 

http://www.bio-conferences.org/arti..._icmsb2017_02011/bioconf_icmsb2017_02011.html

 

With profound hearing loss, T will always be perceived as improvement because you pick up more environmental sounds (better masking). Not sure how they account for that effect in these kind of studies.

 

https://www.sshc.com/how-hearing-aids-can-boost-brain-function-2/

 

I got hearing aids and they help to some degree but you can not really sleep in them so as soon as you take them out its hard to sleep.

 

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#safe=off&q=pillow+hole+in+the+middle&*
I think you could try with the pillow hole in the middle.

 

HI Pete,

I have high freq hearing loss confirmed by audiologist and killer T.
I got my hearing aids Siemens from NHS with T masking function but no reduction on my T at all. When I put them on my T get even worse if is somehow telling me look I am here.
May be by I should try another brand or may be go and try with another audiologist to tweak them.
Which HA do you have?

 

Anyone has experience with this ?
It looks good but very expensive !!

https://www.connecthearing.com.au/en/invisible-hearing-aids/lyric-tinnitus/

 

What are LOFT hearing aids? http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0051915

Which brand offer this kind of hearing aids?

 

I'm wondering if anyone who has tinnitus induced by hearing loss has any experience with using a "Signia Silk (Siemens)" hearing aid to 'control' tinnitus?

 

Siemens make quality hearing aids but where did you read it controls tinnitus?

It's in trial... maybe not commercially available yet?

Very small, like my ex's junk. How much they cost?

 

Thanks for your reply.
Although still on trial, Silk is already being prescribed in such cases. I've tested one for 7 days and felt a good level of "tinnitus masking" but would like to hear from others before buying one. Thanks again.

 

@Amber: are you sure this kind of hearing aids LOFT are not commercially yet? I search on the internet didn't t find anything

@Alan Roger: https://www.signia-hearing.co.uk/tinnitus/ seems that one is pretty innovative with the notched option therapy. I have some siemens I used for a while, but only with a white noise in back ground. Didn't help

Also , My T is mainly on left side . So I wear the hearing aids on left side only . I don't know if I should wear both side ?

 

@Amber and @jacob21,
Thanks very much for your replies.
I haven't heard of notch therapy before - great advice! I've been reading medline papers since then and it seems to be quite interesting. I developed T following sudden defness of right ear amd still really disturbed by T!
Again, thanks for hojr help.

 

Hey @Alan Roger I am actually wearing the Signia Pure Primax 7px right now. My audiologist mentioned that there is a new successor that has real Bluetooth LE (https://www.signia-pro.com/pure-13-bt/) which will be for sale in early May and if I decide to stick with Signia overall I will probably get those instead (since they are essentially the same but the "control tone" based interface that the app uses to interface with the Primax I have is pretty annoying to me).

My audiologist also let me trial Widex Beyond 440s (she had a demo/loaner pair so it wasn't a big deal - I still have these actually) but I am finding that the narrow-band Brownian noise program we set up on the Signia Primax actually does much more for my tinnitus than the broadband white noise (which we actually narrowed to 6000 through 8000khz) program on the Widex (I also have a Zen windchimes program on these but I find it too distracting to be able to think through and do work while it's on so it's not really for me). I actually prefer the sound quality through the Widex but it's hard to say whether that's down to tuning.

On the Primax I am also using the notch program when my tinnitus isn't driving me crazy enough to need the masking (maybe 50% of the time I have them in) but it's hard to say how much it does because my hearing is actually really good and so the boost she set on the notch program is very low.

The one thing that I haven't tried and am interested in is the Starkey "Multiflex Tinnitus" tech. On one hand I am glad that the Signia programs are agreeing with me but I am curious what the Starkey programs actually sound like and if they are working for people.

 

I'm wearing Phonak Audeo V90T with a tinnitus masker for my high frequency hearing loss and tinnitus. They help a great deal but the key is an audiologist who really understands tinnitus and how to set them up properly. I'm in a spike at the moment and find if I jack up the volume a couple notches it covers quite well. I alternate that with the use of the masker and am slowly regaining my sanity, it's been almost 2 months since this spike began. Phonak also allows streaming via bluetooth any sound files you like but I usually stick with white noise and play around with notched therapy. I still can't decide what my frequency is.

 

I tried hearing aids and actually got some relief from my real high pitched T. Cheapest way to get hearing aids is go to your ENT and have a hearing test done and tell them you would like a copy of your audiogram. If you go to a hearing aid store and get free audiogram they will not give you a copy of it. I went on Ebay bought a reconditioned pair of Beltone hearing aids and sent a copy of my audiogram and they programmed them free. I paid 400.00 dollars for the pair that were programmed and ready to wear. So now I hear the sounds around me more loud and clear that makes the T seem less or is my T lower for im filling in the sound frequency that I am lacking in?

 

Hello and I hope you are all having a nice day.

Well today I went to have my ears suctioned and my t ear was packed with wax. Unfortantly I can still hear my tinnitus post ear auction.

I strongly suspect that my tinnitus has come from noise exposure over the years (although not a great deal) as I one of Thisbe people who's ears would ring for days after a night club when nobody else would complain about it. (I guess I was susceptible to tinnitus than them)

Anyway, my next plan is to have a hearing test to see if I have any hearing loss, although I don't notice anything and online hearing tests (I know) suggest hearing is normal.

I spoke with the audiologist today and told her my plans and she said that a hearing aid (if a hearing loss is present) could provide stimulation of the audiottory system to pick up sounds may change my brains plasticity and help with the tinnitus. According to the internet hellhearing aids help in 2 ways. 1 u hearing better to mask t sounds and 2 provided sound stimulation that can change the brains plasticity so you no longer hear the tinnitus.

My question is, would this help me if I do have a nihl or if my tinnitus was caused by noise? If I wear a hearing aid even though I have no obvious trouble with hearing will it help to calm down or alleviate the tinnitus?

 

I have slight to moderate (according to Audiologist ) high frequency hearing loss my hearing aids are a life saver,,,and I wear them at night volume turned right up dont ask me how but in that silence The T is knocked out by 50% making it just about tolerable

 

I would do anything for a 50% reduction esp at night. With mine, i rarely focus it on the day as my hearing is good. But night time is the worse.

I wonder how that works then, is it because you have received sound stimulation in the day in the areas that were lost and made changes to your auditory plasticity?

 

Clinical evidence shows that the use of hearing aids in tinnitus patients provides two benefits: it makes the patient less aware of the tinnitus and it improves communication by reducing the annoying sensation that sounds and voices are masked by the tinnitus. Hearing loss reduces stimulation from external sounds resulting in increased awareness of tinnitus and deprivation of input may change the function of structures of the auditory pathways. Tinnitus is often caused by expression of neural plasticity evoked by deprivation of auditory input. With hearing aid amplification, external sounds can provide sufficient activation of the auditory nervous system to reduce the tinnitus perception and it may elicit expression of neural plasticity that can reprogram the auditory nervous system and thereby have a long-term beneficial effect on tinnitus by restoring neural function. To obtain the best results, hearing aids should be fitted to both ears, use an open ear aid with the widest amplification band, and disabled noise reducing controls. In some cases a combination device would be preferable. The conditions required in order to obtain good results include not only the use of devices, but above all, their adaptation to the needs of the single patient, by counseling and customization. Wearing the hearing aid must become second nature to the patient even though it is only one element of the therapy.

 

According to other sources, all hearing aids do is mask the tinnitus by making outside sounds more noticeable. I'm confused.

 

Paulmanlike Hi.I dont believe Hearing Aids "cure" T in anyway ,infact I basically know they dont ,hearing aids in themselves are a in a way a form of masker and thats all. What they do though is by getting more frequencies into the brain that are lost stimulate the brain which is a good thing ( not T related mind)

 

Hi carl , I almost fell into the £4500 trap at the t clinic until I read your experience so thanks haha.

How is it so that your tinnitus is reduced by 50% in a quiet environment? What sounds are being masked to reduce it by 50%? That's why I'm confused.

 

Buddy I cant answer you I wish I could ,it just does. Also I have a horrible pressure feeling all the time, my hearing aids ease that off as well. Without them I would be in a lot of trouble no chance of habituation since it cranked right up 6 years ago after an ear infection,,,,,,,,,glad you kept your money

 

I have had hearing aids for 2.5 years now and they do help however i recently had them on when walking in front of a car and i didn't realize someone was in the car and they started their motor and my ears have hit another level because of my carelessness...i would caution those who wear hearing aids when outside for it can make things worse if you come in contact with a loud noise at least its been a problem for myself...my tinnitus is so loud i have been wearing hearing aids when outdoors quite often but its hard to always be on guard for any major noise that could happen and i suppose the same can be said for inside noise...in the end i need my hearing aids just to maintain my sanity so they are a benefit and do help and like everyone else i hope a cure is coming in a reasonable time period.

 

The very cheap "hearing aids" will amplify sound indiscriminately, so they can potentially amplify a sound that is already loud, making it much more dangerous for your ears indeed.

However, a decent pair of hearing aids is designed to not amplify loud sounds as it is capped in amplification to ensure that it never goes beyond a "safe level".
That means that an unsafe sound will still make it to your ear, but the hearing aid won't amplify anything. You'd be hit by the same sound if you didn't have the hearing aid.

 

Some 2 months ago, I had an appointment to see a specialist at a hearing centre. Yes, after many tests they agreed i did have Tinnitus and were able to show me on computer generated graphs, exactly what tonal range my hearing was loosing out on due to this, plus also identify what audio range the tinnitus was affecting.

I was then given a second appointment to see if it would be possible to supply a suitable hearing aid to help, "supplement" my own personal hearing loss.
this I attended yesterday.

Ok, so at first they tried some normal hearing aids.....which were then adjusted tonally to suit my personal needs, from the original tests. I tried them, but ok, so the "missing tones" were amplified, BUt the Tinnitus was still kicking in over everything. so they then tried some special "Tinnitus aids", which generate a "white noise", either single note continuous, or if needed...pulsed.

This was then adjusted to "me", so once the tone equalled the Tinnitus tone, it was then set and locked to the aids.

The earlier "boosts" were also added , so now my aids both generate a white noise that cancels out the tinnitus, but the aids also now boost the tones the tinnitus was blanking out to.

OK, I wont say its 100% yet....I have a follow up appointment in 4 months to see how things are an they can adjust, funnily via a "wifi link and a computer" so the hearing aids are adjusted in seconds, whilst still attached so you can say if it is working or not.

The past 24hrs have been unbelievable...I have some form of control over my tinnitus now and I rule IT, not the other way round.

What device you ask?

"Phonak Nathos Q Tinnitus" hearing aid.

Mine were graciously supplied by the NHS [UK], that's why I say speak to your doctor, get a referral to a specialist clinic.

No drugs, no side effects, they even give me free supply of batteries and consumable fittings.