Maskers, Hearing Aids, and Dual Purpose Digital Hearing Aids

In this thread it would be lovely hear about members who use maskers, hearing aids and dual purpose hearing aids, to cope with tinnitus.

And how their life has changed with them and if they got them on the NHS (or equivalent public healthcare) or had to pay for them privately out of pocket...

lots of love,
glynis

 

I paid $5000 for Siemens hearing aids. I don't have hearing loss and they are programmed as maskers. They do bring relief while wearing them and over the past 6 months it has reduced my tinnitus by 50, 60%. To me worth the money.

 

Hi all,

I wear Siemens digital hearing aids and my lovely audiologist set a masker setting on them too as previously I wore maskers.

I had them free on the NHS after my doctor sent them a letter that I had sever bilateral tinnitus due to Meniere's with fluctuating hearing loss.

They have made a great difference to me during the day...

 

I got Puretone Audimed masking devices on the NHS about 18 months ago. I wore them for a while but didn't get much benefit from them. Most of the time I don't use any masking at all. When T gets particularly bothersome, I use sound files generated from the "generalfuzz" DIY ACRN tool on continuous repeat on my MP3 player. I never hear my T when listening to ACRN tones and the residual inhibition effect gives me a reduction in T for a few minutes after I stop listening to the tones. The ACRN model advises that the tones should be played at a volume just loud enough to hear but I normally play them fairly loud as the RI effect works better that way.

 

Those white noise maskers seemed okay at first (using them at a level where I could just make out my tinnitus) but then over time they annoyed me. We all respond differently though so it's a preference thing.

I have a personal theory, which I can't substantiate with research.

Take a look at the below frequency chart from a typical noise generator. I don't believe that it's healthy to deprive the ear of those higher frequencies and I do wonder if a gain-increase type effect is responsible for my higher pitch tinnitus developing over time from using in-ear generators. The other thing to note is that although the maskers may show that present the frequencies they fall very flat in their sonic representation. Compare the same noise through decent headphones and it is worlds apart. It doesn't feel healthy to present such a distorted sound (as a musician that may be relevant to my hearing perception type though, I over listen to sounds).

I prefer the use of tones over noise, it feels more natural. An unmoving sound just feels wrong to me.

 

Yes I'm sure it does Glynis, but when your tinnitus is accompanied by screeching distortion of higher frequency sounds, then no. The "threat" doesn't go away.

My audiogram doesn't really slope-off much. It seems as though my tinnitus shifts in pitch from time to time, and around 50% of the time it merges with external sounds of certain frequencies, giving them a cutting edge which sometimes extends into causing vertigo.

 

I had hearing aids before I got tinnitus. I can't wear them anymore because they make my t turn into a really loud whistle after about 15 minutes of wearing them. I have a severe high frequency hearing loss, so it's been a challenge trying to hear with t and without my hearing aids.

 

Rereading this 4 years on, I'd probably be less dogmatic about it now than I clearly was then. It's good advice from Glynis, but my only caveat would taking great care with the nature of the sound you select. You could call this brain retraining, but really it's whole-of-nervous system retraining. I think coping begins with the dampening down of the physiological hyper-stimulation of the fight/fright nervous system response that tinnitus causes.

I think that's the real nature of this disease. It's a mix of physiology and psychology, driven by a nervous system that goes into hyper-alert due to a threatening sound. If the sound was external you'd move away from it, but it isn't and you can't, so until you find some form of relief you can't dial down your sympathetic nervous system. This is why sedatives, masking and CBT are the mainstays of treatment (assuming one is even able to get treatment). All promises of drug and surgical interventions have so far proven to be pie in the sky with too many risks associated for barely demonstrable benefit.

 

My 2 cents having had tinnitus for about 3 years which is highly variable...high frequency hiss basically ranging from very loud to not annoying...or much less annoying at least a smaller subset of the time....my T is bothersome more than it isn't. Also, my tinnitus is mostly affected by sleep...sleeping many times heightens my tinnitus for unknown reasons often speculated about.

I had an audiological evaluation last week. My Dr. seemed to believed I had some kind of virus or some kind of undefined health event to cause my tinnitus and high frequency hearing loss. I didn't suffer from any memorable sound event. I have had pretty normal hearing my entire life with no tinnitus. I have pretty substantial fall off in my hearing above 6k frequency in both ears now...more in the left ear. Further, my ears are a bit sound sensitive. My brain has turned up the gain by about 20 dB. 80 dB is pretty painful to me as tested whereas those with more normal hearing can better tolerate 100 db.

I am a very active sports guy and swim and bike frequently for fitness. I don't want hearing aids...but....if they improve my tinnitus, I want to give them a try at least to see if they are a viable solution to knocking down my tinnitus if I choose to wear them versus not in different settings. For example if home alone, this is when my tinnitus is the most troublesome...with lower sound levels and less distraction. I don't struggle much with my hearing deficit in public. But I many times hear my tinnitus if watching TV or listening to music, but sometimes not depending on how loud it is that particular time. I hear people pretty clearly when people speak. I told my audiologist for example I hear her perfectly because she has such a clear speaking voice and of course many don't. She laughed and said, she knows because she works with so many that can't hear so she has developed this capability. But her clear speech is native to her voice signature as well. In a crowded room I struggle more. Hearing is more muddled which is common with my type of hearing loss. I like to equalize my sound for those into audio and who love music as I do. I tend to turn up the highs in the music I listen to...and/or choose headphones and speakers with crisp highs. Yes, I subscribe to headphone listening on low volumes. My ears don't like high volume anyway. High volume kills hearing, not type of sound generation. My opinion.

So the end of this week, I am going to start using a 'kit' my audiologist has ordered. We are going to try different strategies of hearing augmentation. Embellishment of highs to fill in the sound my brain can no longer perceive and/or masking or supplemental sound to see if there is a Goldilocks scenario that helps distract me from my tinnitus.

Many different people I speak with that have common high frequency hearing loss due to aging and/or sound exposure through their life as a basis for their tinnitus...they believe....including doctors and laypeople with first hand experience, that filling in the highs with hearing aids the brain can no longer hear, this can help to reduce their sensitivity to tinnitus.

Before I spend the big bucks, using high end hearing aids as a trial...my audiologist charges $200 for such a trial which seems fair for her time and involvement to tune my sound signature and procure top of the line hearing aids on a trial basis etc, we will see if this helps and I will report on the forum the result. If our effort doesn't pan out, then I will not get the hearing aids, or may opt for some much less expensive.

If somebody reading this has a lot of experience with what I describe and has tried many different types of hearing aids and has a particular recommendation based upon the latest technology, please post if you would. I presume my audiologist has access to many brands and I would like to put my best foot forward to helping improve my quality of life if this is possible.

Many thanks.

 

I also have HF hearing loss, and the aid I wear does help. It doesn't reduce the T for me, but it does help more ambiant noise get into the brain, which helps coping with T. Give it a try and try many types of HAs: they feel different, and it can take a while to get used to them.

Good luck!

 

Many thanks Greg and also thanks for all your advice on the forum.
I will report back my findings and add at least to experiences shared.

 

Hi, how did the test go John? Curious as I suspect I too have high frequency hearing loss using my tinnitus.

Helene

 

Hi @glynis

I was wondering if you can give me some advice on hearing aids or maskers?

I've only had T for just over a week and I know it's probably never going to go, so instead of dwelling on it, I'm trying to find as much info as possible to help me cope and carry on as normal as I can.

I read on a post somewhere that you use hearing aids to mask your T. Are you still using them? And if so, are they a good idea and have they helped you?


Steph X

 

Hi Steph, my hearing aids have literally saved my life. They also have the maskers which are an extra tool to help when needed.

Have you had a hearing test?

Mine are Oticon and got them through the NHS. Have you been down the ENT and audiologist route yet?

Hang in there, you're not alone and there is help available.

 

@simb999 thank you so much for replying. I've just looked them up. Unfortunately I can't get to any ENT or audiologist right now.

I did phone ENT and they literally told me there's nothing I can do and I'll just have to try and mask it.

I'm seriously depressed right now and if I don't get something I can permanently mask the sound with - I will surely go crazy!

Steph X

 

No probs at all Steph, try to stay calm and relax, I know that's easier said than done! Things will improve, it's very early days. Getting over the panic stage is the first step but you'll get there it just takes time. Good luck x

 

This is a helpful thread, thanks to all.

I am seeing an audiologist for the second time after habituating to my tinnitus for a decade. Now, I believe due to a calcium channel blocker medication, hyperacusis has become a much bigger part of the problem. I am feeling positive that at least I'm trying to do something about it again.

The latest tech hearing aids have a lot of features that I hope will be helpful. As an engineer and musician, it is my belief that what I need is a combination of high frequency 'equalization', dynamic range compression, noise reduction/protection. My initial research is indicating this can now be accomplished with hearing aid devices. Can't wait to give them a try...