Posted on: November 15, 2017
So, you have been diagnosed with tinnitus. What now? Treatment of tinnitus will largely depend on the cause.
Sometimes tinnitus is caused by a reversible condition such as earwax, fluid, or other obstructions in the outer and middle ear. In these cases simply removing the obstruction will usually alleviate the tinnitus.
If your tinnitus is due to hearing loss, especially noise induced hearing loss, then it is mostly likely a permanent condition. Though there is no cure, tinnitus can be managed through a combination of counselling and sound therapy.
The main thing to remember about tinnitus is that quiet is the enemy. For most people, the more quiet their environment, the more they notice their tinnitus. This is because noise tends to distract us from the tinnitus, effectively masking or covering it up. So what do you do when you are in a quiet room or lying down to sleep?
Masking the tinnitus with an outside noise has been proven to be an effective way to manage tinnitus for most people. It can be as simple as a fan on the table or at your bedside. For more severe cases noise generators called tinnitus maskers are available with everything from white noise to nature sounds to choose from.
Hearing aids have also been proven to help by amplifying sounds that you have been missing, which in turn helps mask the tinnitus. Most models also have a tinnitus masker built in, which can be accessed at the push of a button. With the advent of wireless hearing aids you can also link your phone or other devices to stream sounds or music directly to your hearing aid, greatly expanding the number of options for masking your tinnitus.
The point here is that if you have tinnitus you don’t have to suffer in silence. Contact your local hearing health care professionals for an assessment and to go over treatment options. For more information or to book a tinnitus or hearing evaluation contact Accurate Hearing at one of our locations below:
Lower Sackville: 902-252-3004
Cole Harbour: 902-406-4327