Do your hearing aids help with your tinnitus? I am lucky to say that mine do. I know this is not the case for everyone. But I hadn’t realized how important this was to me until recently, when I had to go two days without my left hearing aid. The dizziness and lopsided feeling were bad enough, but the ringing in my ear was awful, and constant, and exhausting.
Since I wear my hearing aids all the time — I wear Lyrics which stay in your ears 24/7, even when you sleep — it is a rare moment that I don’t have some type of hearing aid in my ear. For that reason, I had forgotten how debilitating my tinnitus can be at its worst. Don’t get me wrong, even with my hearing aids I still have an almost constant hum in my ears, particularly on the left side, but it is mostly manageable. With the hearing aid gone, the volume of my tinnitus was turned up a notch. It felt like the phone was ringing off the hook, but the phone was inside my head. And there was no off switch.
So what did I do?
- I played soft music in the background. This helped to mask the tinnitus a bit.
- I meditated. In fact, during my 20 minutes of daily meditation (I just started over the summer!) my head was quiet. Was it that my mind was occupied elsewhere or was I learning to notice the sound, but not react to it? I’m not sure, but for me it was a momentary respite.
- I went about my day. Sometimes just powering through is the only way. But I was much more exhausted at the end of the day, and a bit cranky too, I admit.
Luckily, after two days, I had a new left hearing aid. What a relief it was. Not only did the ringing recede to a manageable level, but my entire body relaxed. The furrow between my brows softened and I am sure I was grinning from ear to ear. I felt lucky, and grateful, that my hearing aids can help relieve my tinnitus in this way. Plus, I could hear again too, which was definitely a positive.
I know that hearing aids don’t mask tinnitus for everyone, but they do for some. If you suffer from tinnitus and do not wear a hearing aid, try one. Who knows, it might provide some relief for you too. I sincerely hope so.
Readers, do hearing aids help with your tinnitus?