Poll: Do Hearing Aids Reduce Your Tinnitus?

I made this thread to ask the question if hearing aids reduce tinnitus because I'm subscribed to the idea that reversing hearing loss in anyway should reduce tinnitus. I have seen several threads where many people congratulate hearing aids on reducing the volume of their tinnitus. However there are a few complains that say hearing aids make tinnitus worse.

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

 

My ENT had me try on hearing aids at his office just in case and they did reduce the central sound. My audiogram is clear and hearing is fine (I'm a musician with absolute pitch), except for high freq distortions in my left ear which could be a form of hidden hearing loss I suppose. Just wanted to give context.

 

Not sure...

 

Mostly hearing aids change the character of the tinnitus, often in a pleasant direction. In addition, one can mentally assign the noise to the hearing aids. Unfortunately, it is still present even after removal of the hearing aids.

 

I have hidden hearing loss (mild hearing loss in noisy areas). I am thinking about getting hearing aids. My Tinnitus is very loud and unmaskable.

 

I visited an ENT do to a recent issue with my left ear. They diagnosed me with possible Meniere's disease though I am skeptical as I don't have any of the other symptoms other than fullness. But they also said something might be attacking my auditory nerve.

They put me on steroids. The good news is I am staring to feel better and my hearing at least seems to be improving somewhat on the left. I go for another test in a month to know for sure.

My hearing has been bad for years but never really to a point where I thought I needed hearing aides.

I mentioned my tinnitus. They claim hearing aides would help as it would help with the sounds I am not hearing. They also said there were masking and therapy options available that could help.

I am a bit suspect because they also sell hearing aides and just want to push them on me. I don't mind not hearing everything but help with the tinnitus should would be great. But I don't want to spend $1000s on something that might not work or I find uncomfortable to wear.

Have hearing aides helped your perception of your tinnitus?

 

I voted that hearing aids lowered my tinnitus, but often they will unaccountably make it worse when exposed to certain sounds. And, when I have a bad spike they will be of no avail.

 

From what I understand, regular hearing aids only go up to 8000Hz, but
most Tinnitus/hearing loss is in higher ranges.

Since we still live in the dark ages as far as anything to do with hearing is concerned (and audiograms over 8000 Hz are considered too hi-tech and unnecessary), I could see a problem on that end.

 

Interesting comment and sort of my thoughts on what the ENT and audiologist said on the perception of the tin. I never hear sounds at the frequency I am hearing my tinnitus. Never have and I would thing most people have not. You might get frequencies that high in some components of music but how often are we listening to those components.

About the only time you might be hearing in something in that range as I already mentioned is the oscillator of an old TV.

That is why I am skeptical that they would help. They might help you hear over your tinnitus and help with hearing but as far as the tinnitus? I wish I could try a pair for a few months before plopping down money.

 

Audiologists usually let you trial the aids for at least a month, with a money back promise. Places such as Costco let you use them for even longer. But yes, you do have to pay for them up front.

 

Not sure I would want to go to costco for hearing aid. Maybe if I had a mild case of hearing loss. But mine is not mild.

But thanks for the tip on the audiologist trail.

 

Don't be too put off by Costco. As long as the audiologist uses real ear measurement to programme your device, you can get the big name brands as well as their own in house brands for a fraction of the cost charged by private audiologists. If cost is an issue, it's a good place to start. And no, I don't work for Costco.

 

Do hearing aids help tinnitus if tinnitus is in your brain and you have reactive tinnitus?

 

I am evaluating this question right now. So far, my very fantasy Oticon hearing aids I am using on a 30 day trial basis with and without background masking do NOT change the signature of my tinnitus.

I am leaning toward not keeping the hearing aids as they don't improve the quality of my life so far but I am only a few days in.

I have a measured hearing deficit in the 8K frequency range for both ears. The dilemma for my audiologist is...my gain shift of about 20dB or so aka hyperacusis, increased sound sensitivity. If she really turns up the gain on my high frequency to fill in this sound loss, this noise is painful for me. Trucks are painfully loud walking outside etc.

I hear pretty well without hearing aids. I was really hoping they may improve my tinnitus. So far, not the case.

Thanks for asking this important question OP. I will check back in after a couple more weeks after a longer test period.

 

Filling up the lost sound to a level of normal ear hearing, and exposure to loud sounds of trucks are two different things.

Quality hearing aids dont increase sounds to a level above your normal hearing, because they are programmed not to do so.

According to my experiences with hearing aids, they can actualy act as protection from unhealty loud sounds. For example....if I am using hearing aids and I am suddenly exposed to unhealty 150 db sound, that would not mean that my hearing aids will add my initialy missing db to that 150 db sound. In that case they would actualy act as protection to my ear (like ear plugs). Without them I would be exposed to clear 150 db, but using them I am exposed to lower value of db because I have (someting like ear plugs) in my ears.

 

Just to push back only slightly. Any hearing aids, including the very expensive hearing aids I am trying are only as good as their programming in an effort to match frequency(s) of hearing loss. My Dr. of Audiology told me, there is a lot of 'art' to tuning hearing aids after a comprehensive audiology evaluation.

The programmability of my hearing aids is state of the art and btw, I believe she nailed the programming.

Your theory of filled in high's with hearing aids as protection against loud sound is an interesting theory.
Can you produce a link aka scientific study that supports your claim? I would like to read the technical explanation behind such a thesis.

Thanks for your comments.

 

So far, hearing aids have done little to help my hearing....my hearing isn't bad but no question I have high frequency loss. I embellish aka use a sound equalizer to bring in more highs for audio listening for example.

Hasn't helped my tinnitus. A few said it would. It may vary by the individual. I believe I have rather ordinary high frequency hearing loss tinnitus...but mine can get rather loud at times for no discernible reason. Mine sounds like a hiss...with maybe a hint of a whistle....this harmonic thrown into the sound signature mix.

Brace yourself. $1000? My audiologist must think I am rich.
Mine are priced at $6,400....as in out of pocket cost. For the price of a used car, I have to be pretty convinced I need hearing aids at this level. I don't. I did want to see if state of the art hearing aids would improve my quality of life and so far they haven't honestly. My elderly Mom however who is pretty close to stone deaf, needs very good hearing aids just to hear and Bluetooth for TV watching is a very big help.

Aids I have for 30 day trial:



At little over $3000 US per ear:
https://www.hearingaids365.com/product/oticon-opn-s-1-minirite-r/

 

Hi John,

hearing aids are tuned according to your audiogram. I have moderate hearing loss at low frequencies (30-40 db) and much more severe at high frequencies ( up to 90 db). So my device is programmed according to this. Of course programming must be done by profesional audiologist and hearing aids must be of good quality so that it supports programming of such audiogram ( hearing loss).

I have always used ( around 16 years) CIC type of hearing aids. Meaning completly in the canal type so I can only speak about those types, regarding protection.

If I dont use them and I am exposed to extreme unhealty loud sounds I feel that sound is hurting my ears, like unconfortable feeling in my ears.
But using this CIC type of hearing aids I dont feel this. I even listen to music with headphones at quite loud volume but always with hearing aids and my audiogram is the same all those years.

What I was trying to say in previus post is, that my if I am for example exposed to 150 db sound of certain frequency I will NOT recieve150db + my missing db into my ears. I will actualy recieve maybe (speculating here because I dont know how much exactly) 120 db, because I have something like ear plugs in my ears. Like for example if I use hearing aids turned off, I would recieve less external imput because device is filling my ear canal.

But if I would have only moderate or mild hearing loss so that I would not have any problems communicating with people I would not use hearing aids at all.

 

As someone who has designed and built a hearing device, I can share what I've learned.

That much is true. An audiogram (which is the input to the fitting process) is a very coarse way to represent someone's hearing, so it is not surprising that a lot of trial and error happens during the fitting iterative process.

The other part to this is that there are standard fitting tables that determine your amplification based on your loss, and they are not symmetrical: if you are down 40 dB at 8 kHz, the HA will not compensate by adding 40 dB at 8 kHz. The tables are called NAL (and later NAL-2), but most HA brands think that they have a better "secret sauce" that they hide behind a more complex algorithm, with an accompanying software that an audiologist has to use to program the HA. That means that the audiologist doesn't really know "what happens" when they use this or that button: the button is there to represent a condition ("patient hears echo"), and the algorithm will then decide what is best to do. They are trained by the company, but the complexity is just too high to really be able to understand all the intricacies of each brand (I don't blame them).

Because of this "black box", audiologists have learned from experience using various settings with their patients, so they know that a patient complaining of "this" is addressed by pushing "that button" in the software. That is the "art" part.

That's where the "art" part comes in... tweaking a bunch of settings like gain, but also compression, filters... until the patient says "that's it!"... but there is no guarantee that a set of digital filters will be able to correct to a satisfactory level. Still, it's worth iterating a handful of times. At Costco, where I got my latest set of HAs, we iterated a few times by making an adjustment in the booth, and me going out of the booth for a 5 min walk around the store to see how I would feel about loudness across bass/voice/treble frequencies. I'd go back to the booth with my feedback and we'd go for another round. That can take over an hour just to do an adjustment, sometimes without a successful outcome. It can be frustrating.

Also, many HAs will offer you a button that you can use to change the program: in my case, I have to increase the amplification a bit when I'm in the car to hear the radio sound better. I have a bit of control, but not much.

This is not a scientific study type of data. It is a product requirement type of data. The high level safety requirement is "do not blast the ear ever" (sounds reasonable, doesn't it?). That means the algorithm will not add any amplification to bands of frequencies that already have too much energy: a loud sound will not be amplified.

Example: if you have an "open ear" HA, then an environmental sound of 120 dB will not be amplified by the HA, but you'll still get 120 dB in your ear. In that sense you're not protected. However, if you have an "in the ear canal" aid, it acts as an ear plug before amplifying the sound to the ear. Roughly speaking, if the presence of that hearing aid in the canal drops the volume by 20 dB, then when it picks up a 120 dB sound, it will decide to not amplify it and the ear will only be subjected to 100 dB. It's obviously more complicated than that due to bone conduction, the fact the attenuation isn't uniform across frequencies, and other factors, but you get the point.

Shop around. The most expensive ones aren't necessarily the best ones for your hearing profile. HAs are expensive though, generally speaking, not unlike other "durable medical equipment". Costco sells the same hearing aids as the other stores (ie same brands), but they sometimes lag by 1 year in technology, and they have a limited set of options, but trade that for a better pricing and warranty.

Good luck with your fitting. I hope you find something that helps you.

 

Hi Greg,

In my case (with two different hearing aid companies - exclusive sellers) it was not like that. It was not that audiologist who was programming my device was specifically interested in my opinion about settings. He was almost exclusively interested in audiogram which I got from my ENT doctor. He has set up my hearing aid exactly according to audiogram which I have brought to him. Although when he finished he said if I would feel any uncomfortableness I should come back.

There is one important thing here. Hearing organ is one of most complicated organ in our body, and current technology is not able to produce device which would perfectly artificialy replace our hearing. There my be such cases with other organs like for example eyes, where glasses or lenses can bring back almost perfect functionality. That is why it is normal that many people are not satisfied with hearing aids and they want that audiologist make wonders. In my case of moderate to severe hearing loss I can say it is still greatly beneficial, regardless of not being perfect.

 

One of the best posts I have ever read on this forum. You touched on all salient points and with your considerable experience and knowledge, you nailed the explanation of each facet.

I was going to respond to Ervin about his 'ear canal blocking' hearing aids is a very similar manner. You very eloquently explained all important points however and no need. Apples and oranges as you explained compared to my open over the ear design....and I believe Ervin knew this on some level and perhaps the predicate for his choice...he believes the canal blocking type is the best of him...or his audiologist does. My audiologist was deliberate in selection of open ear type. She told me she thought they were best for my profile.

You will giggle but there is an odd analogy about comparing hearing aids as there is for ear canal blocking earbuds/headphones that are sealed versus open. Not an even playing field and lumping them together which is often done does a disservice to explaining the tradeoffs.

And a last bit on the exorbitant price of the hearing aid model I am trialing. No way I would pay this amount without a pretty big improvement in my hearing which just isn't there. I may in fact be a couple or five years away from getting hearing aids. But I wanted to try. I have a ways to go on my trial. But I am a pretty fast study and I just don't see the benefit...so far.

Even if I need them, through my insurance they offer lower price options. My audiologist of course is in the 'business' of selling their high zoot brands and because I was under no obligation than a $200 retainer for her oversight of getting them in, fitting me and adjusting their sound signature, I felt it was a worthwhile exercise. When the time comes, I will likely go to Costco as you have or go through a trial with my insurance company lower price model.

Thanks a lot Greg for your insight.

 

Thank you for your kind words.

The open designs vs in ear is also a trade-off. Having something in your canal can give the feeling of a plugged ear and end up irritating the ear canal, as well as prevent the proper natural movement of the wax (which tends to move outwards naturally when there is no obstacle). For specific types of losses, the additive nature of the open design works well because the ear can already hear a wide spectrum naturally yet can benefit from the addition by the HA.

When the losses are severe, there is often not much of an option but to resort to HAs inserted in the canal, sometimes fairly deep (see the Lyric type, with a long life battery, that stays in the ear for weeks at time but requires a professional to insert it).

Yes this is a reasonable thought, but you should be aware that some correlation (not causation) has been established between certain conditions such as dementia and loss of hearing (I don't remember the study), and some scientists postulate that providing a signal to the ear helps keep the neural connections active enough for our body to decide against disposing of them. I'm not aware of any study proving this, but it may be wise to try to keep activity in that area of the auditory cortex until some mechanism (most likely drugs) allow the signal to be restored naturally.

Or course, in your case, due to your sensitivity in that high frequency range, it may require pretty advanced tuning if you decided you wanted to try to keep that area of your auditory cortex active and busy.

You're welcome!
Good luck!

 

Yes, some audiologists are more diligent that others...

I agree. Patients' expectations are sometimes too high, perhaps based on experience with eyesight, where we are indeed able to correct the signal very well. It's still worth trying... you don't have much to lose, other than a couple of hours (and, depending on your insurance, some cash).

I'm glad your HAs help you.

 

I tried out Signa pure charge and go Nx7, top of the line in 10/2019.

Took my hearing aids back, got them Fri 9/28/19 10am to Tue 10/01/19, could have had them for a 2 week trial from the Doctor of Audiology. Actually wore them only until Monday night - so, 3 days. Wore them from the time I got up until I went to bed (not in the shower). Top of the line, white noise, tuned to my hearing loss so it just increased the high tones I don't hear as well as a 20 year old. Trouble is for me, the white noise is just one more noise, so after 2 days with 3 hours each of the white noise, as the hearing salesman recommended, I turned that shit off. And hearing the high tones just seemed to increase the loudness of my 7500 hz tone I have all the time anyway. 2 days after taking them back I feel much better without them. Ya, I can’t understand folks talking up the isle in supermarkets, and I don’t here the high clicks typing my computer keyboard, and ya the highway seems further away again, but I can live with that. He said it would help with hearing my wife talking in the other room- it did not. However, if she wants me she can talk in the same room or louder. Now, I don’t think it was the hearing aids. I just don't care about the high tones I am missing, and I don't care if I am overly sensitive to loud noises. I only care about one thing. Get rid of that 7500 tone in my brain. It’s like one of those whistling tea pots with me 24 7. $4800 on sale for 2. Originally $7000. The Doctor of Audiology wanted to fine tune them to me, but I am just not ready for that yet. I am not willing to try something that is going to make it worse before it gets better. Just my 2 cents.