Game-Changing Hearing Aids for Tinnitus
Living with a constant ringing or buzzing in your ears is no easy task. Thankfully, there are plenty of methods that sufferers rely on to minimize the uncomfortable effects of tinnitus – from relaxation to music to exercise and more. But beyond just those methods we employ to make our life with tinnitus easier and more enjoyable, there are few coping methods as effective as a hearing aid. After all, a majority of tinnitus sufferers experience both hearing loss and ringing together, so why not treat both with the same device?
In recent years, hearing aid manufacturers have raced to provide the very best hearing aid technology for tinnitus sufferers. The technology behind these incredible devices makes living with tinnitus not just bearable, but very often more productive and healthier, too. That’s all because of a simple device called a ‘noiser’, which creates an un-obtrusive yet constant sound that distracts a wearer from the uncomfortable buzzing. Suddenly, wearers can focus less on the constant ringing in their ears, and much more on enjoying the pleasures of life.
But beyond just the standard technology that’s readily used to help aid wearers cope with tinnitus, hearing aids are game-changing devices for tinnitus sufferers in plenty of ways. These are the hearing aids that are doing it best, and how.
Phonak Audéo
Phonak hasn’t just taken the time to create a single hearing aid with tinnitus features, but a whole line of them. When developing their Audéo V line of hearing aids, the creators at Phonak made tinnitus a priority – and built into each model the same stellar tinnitus features. So, an aid wearer has the benefit of choosing from a wide range of technology levels and styles while still being able to get tinnitus relief from the same aid.
Plus, Phonak hearing aids take it even further with the ‘Tinnitus Balance’ app, a free smartphone app that allows for the Audéo wearer to save their own personal music into a library. Then, wearers can play their favorite music directly through their hearing aids during times when tinnitus is worst – like nighttime and in quiet environments. As the brain adjusts to the songs, the playlist becomes meditative and calming, with just enough to distract the listener from ringing without intruding on relaxation.
Starkey Multiflex
Starkey is right in line with most tinnitus-enabled hearing aids with the use of ‘audio stimulation’, and provides the same sound relief that most tinnitus hearing aids do. But right on the heels of so many more user-focused aids, Starkey hearing aids take it one step further with the ‘Soundpoint tool’ – and makes tinnitus treatment even more customizable.
Along with the aptly named Multiflex technology, the impressive Soundpoint tool allows a hearing specialist to work with a wearer in creating ‘noiser’ sound that’s perfect for them. That means having the ability to customize the sound so that the noiser produces soothing pitches that are fine-tuned to the unique buzzing or ringing a tinnitus sufferer experiences.
Siemens Tinnitus Masker Technology
The Siemens Masker tinnitus treatment offers the same kind of ‘acoustic stimulation’ as do most tinnitus-enabled hearing aids, but does it in a few different ways. First, the Siemens devices allow for plenty of flexibility for those that both suffer from hearing loss, and those that don’t. For hearing loss sufferers, the focus is on amplifying ambient sound and streaming it through to the wearer. These amplified ambient sounds allow the wearer to focus their attention on these sounds, and less on ringing.
For those that don’t suffer from hearing loss, Siemens also offers noisers with no sound amplification, offering the calming and distracting sound without any needless technology. Even better, though, is the many different kinds of sounds that the Siemens hearing aid provides with its noisers – white noise, pink noise, speech noise and high tone noise – that can be customized based on the wearer’s preferences. And if a wearer wants the support of both a hearing aid and a noiser, the Siemens’ combined device does both.
ReSound Relief App
ReSound has set the bar high in lots of ways – namely, in creating state-of-the-art technology that works with the smartphones and tablets we use every day. That same thinking went into how ReSound created hearing aids for tinnitus sufferers – bringing the same kind of customization that their standard ‘made for iPhone’ aids boast. The method is the same – harnessing the power of the mobile phone app.
The ReSound Relief app allows wearers to battle their tinnitus in four ways. First, wearers can play specific audio exercises designed to help the brain refocus on sounds other than ringing, and balance them between each ear. Second, wearers can create custom SoundScapes by mixing up to five different sounds using a unique “color display” on their iPhone screen. Third, the ReSound Relief app has combined visual and audio ‘games’ that provide additional control over the kinds of sounds they use to distract from tinnitus. And finally, the app provides tracking of usage so that a wearer can provide detailed information to their hearing specialist during follow-up visits. Along with ReSound’s advanced Verso TS and LiNX TX aids, this app is the perfect partner for coping with tinnitus.