Oticon More™ Hearing Aids Silenced My Friend's Tinnitus

You got damage from a fan app? I used to use fan apps with headphones on when I needed to concentrate at work. Also slept with one of those Dohm white noise machines.

 

Yeah - in-ear headphones, sleeping on my side/ear > pushing the headphones in even further... I guess I turned them up too loud > the entire night > 2 weeks in a row, before I realized this might not be such a good idea. Following night (after quitting) I heard my drone tinnitus for the first time... (it's still hard talking about it and frankly not good for my process, so please don't ask any more about this specifically, thank you )

 

I'm sorry to hear that you also have that pesky, über low tone. It's definitely not a treat.

That's an interesting theory. It's still anecdotal, but it might very well be a good starting point for a ''tinnitus'' researcher to delve further into this matter and see if there indeed are patterns that confirm your assumption. Maybe someone like Dr. De Ridder knows more about this specific issue?

I wouldn't worry too much about the low drone being untreatable, at least in your particular case. You've mentioned earlier that your tinnitus is somatic, right? Well, Shore's DeNovo device seems to be quite successful in treating that kind of tinnitus. And you seem like the perfect candidate for that treatment, given your near perfect hearing (if I'm not mistaken?). So I would not get my hopes up if I were you

 

My lips are sealed.

 

Near perfect hearing on those simple audiograms, yes (not a single frequency goes below 20 dB) - I guess my drone is lower than 125 Hz (that's the lowest they are testing here on audiograms), -20 dB in left ear at 125 Hz - still my drone is in the right ear, -20 dB in both ears at 4000 Hz too (like most of us here, it seems, 4000 Hz is the most battered frequency).

My tinnitus (the drone part) is only somatic if it's at medium volume. If it's raging I can't modulate it anymore by lowering my chin to my chest.

I'll report back what the audiologist says about what hearing aids can do for me, I guess I'm only interested in the white noise part of the device. (a very low volume humming sound stops my drone)

 

Your tinnitus sound rather complex, Ben. I do hope that hearing aids will seal the deal for you. Please let us know what your audiologist has to say about it

 

I don't wear them for long, because I find it makes my ears itchy.

I also worry about losing them if I wear them outside.

The white noise technology they have is quite subtle and sophisticated. So you'd have try it out to experience it first hand.

It helps me quite a bit when I use them.

 

@Freyja95, since my ears were accidentally cleaned with a hospital suction device two weeks ago, all noises have been extremely distorted, with about 25% hitting my ears unnaturally hard in a way that's bizarrely forceful, pain-inducing, and violent. A lot of things (anything with percussion, for example) not only sound extremely harsh but are physically hitting my ears in a way that feels like something is not conducting sound properly. A lot of sounds feel invasive, full of strong pressure being exerted into my ears, and excruciating.

But my eardrum is intact and my tympanogram was normal. An audiogram found a ~10 dB threshold change in the lower frequencies and a ~5 dB threshold change at 6 kHz, but it was still in normal range.

What could be causing sounds to start hitting my ears in a way that I can physically feel? It doesn't even seem like hidden hearing loss or hearing loss (which would just make things sound like they would through an equalizer with random settings) but some kind of ossicular chain dislocation, eardrum change, or middle ear acoustic dysfunction. But I just started doing my research.

I have an ENT and audiology appointment Friday and I want them to deal with this, as it seems dangerous. What other testing can I ask for?

 

Have you ever used hearing aids to treat someone with hyperacusis?

I had an audiologist suggest this instead of above the ear sound generators. The audiologist acknowledged that it is counterintuitive given that I already hear sounds as too loud. All of my hearing tests (I have had three (3) recently) have shown minor hearing loss consistent with age (worse on my left side) and 100% word recognition scores. I have been using above the ear sound generators for sound therapy. I was too worried about a worsening of my condition if I used hearing aids for amplification. The audiologist said that she was only going to use a “touch” of amplification.

 

I had a friend send this article to me where hearing aids also helped lower the tinnitus.

LIZ HODGKINSON: My tinnitus has gone at last, but only after I spent £5,000 on hearing aids

But I was wondering what the audiologist mean by:

‘For tinnitus sufferers, as time goes on, the auditory pathways become damaged and the sounds we are used to go away,’ Tim explained.

Is it like the auditory pathway gets "worn out" from the tinnitus, or what?

 

@star-affinity, I don't think so. Maybe he meant that, as time goes on, people naturally lose hearing due to aging and, even more so, people with tinnitus which means they have already compromised ears.

 

Good thing it seems we will eventually be able to grow new hair cells. Seems the supporting cells that initially created the hair cells in the womb are still there next to our hair cells. We "just" have to "wake them up" and redo what they once did. But seems it will take about a decade (minimum) before it happens.

Encouraging talk about this:

Hearing Health Hour Webinar | The Present and...

But maybe not for tinnitus as the researchers in that talk seem pretty confident that once the tinnitus starts it's maintained by the brain and not the inner ear.

So (like I've said in other threads) despite its complexities it seems easier to fix hearing loss than tinnitus. I hope many of us will get rid of the tinnitus if the hearing damage is cured.

 

It's just a theory. Cochear implants can improve tinnitus just because they restore the missing signals from the ear.

 

Is this related to the Oticon study carried out by Susan Schmidt? I’m trying to get more information on this.

 

I've been using Oticon Ruby 2 aids now as a trial for the last couple of weeks.

They haven't helped unfortunately. My audiologist added the sound generator last week but also didn't help. I just hear 2 background noises now instead of one. If anything I think my tinnitus might be higher pitched and louder now. Very discouraged. Doctor says that these hearing aids cure tinnitus for 80 to 90 percent of people. Unlucky me! My father-in-law has hearing aids and says his tinnitus disappears as soon as he puts them on (but he rarely wears them says they are a pain to wear). That wouldn't be me for sure. As soon as my trial (30 days) is over I'm sending them back.

My hearing loss is in the 4 kHz to 8 kHz range.

 

Did you try Oticon hearing aids?

 

Do they silence your tinnitus?

 

Hi Deb. Yes, I purchased a pair of Oticon More 1's from Korea. They have always had a noticeable hiss in quiet (not that I ever knew quiet) but I am in the process of returning them to Korea for repair/replacement. I should have returned them months ago but due to my two surgeries and the crazy tinnitus I needed them for masking.

I also have a pair of Phonak P90's. I feel the Oticon's give more sound to compete with the tinnitus than the Phonak's.

Neither eliminate my tinnitus in any way, shape or form but for provide competing noise that helps slightly distract me, particularly outdoors.

I have ski slope hearing loss from 2 kHz down to around a 55-65 dB loss at 8 kHz. So I am on the verge of moderate high frequency hearing loss.

Are the Oticon More 1's expensive in Australia?

 

i would like to add my success story with Oticon More 1 hearing aids.

I have had hyperacusis and tinnitus since November 2020 with sudden hearing loss in my right ear from 5500 Hz and above.

My tinnitus would be reactive to my hyperacusis, therefore sound exposure in my missing range would make my tinnitus worse throughout the day.

About 4-5 months in, I saw a private audiologist who tried me with Oticon More 1 hearing aids, and set them to compress my high range and raise my mid range. The effect was instant and reduced my hyperacusis to almost none. This had the knock on effect of keeping my tinnitus at a very low level.

Fast forward to today, i wear the hearing aids all day everyday and have a relatively normal life, only noticing my tinnitus when I go to bed and take the aid out.

This won't work for all, but worked for me and gave me my life back.