A sensation of hearing ringing, buzzing, humming, hissing or other sounds from within our own ears is known as tinnitus. If you are experiencing this, the first step is to book a hearing test.
If a hearing loss is present with tinnitus we can review your options for amplification to help you manage it better.
Tinnitus most often occurs when there is a lack of stimulation to our hearing 'hair' cells that have been damaged, which also causes hearing loss. Our hearing 'hair' cells can spontaneously fire in an effort to keep themselves stimulated, and we perceive this as a sound from within our own head or ears. Often, wearing hearing aids will give your damaged hearing cells the stimulation they were lacking, and tinnitus should subside.
For people with more severe tinnitus, many hearing aids have support features that can help. These features emit sounds, taking your attention away from the tinnitus by specifically targeting the nerves needing stimulation. Your Hearing Care Professional will help you choose from a range of tinnitus relief sound options for your hearing aids. Hearing aid wearers feedback has shown this tool helps decrease the annoyance of tinnitus over time.
If there is no hearing loss present with your tinnitus, we will recommend speaking to your Family Physician for a referral to an Ear Nose Throat Specialist to further investigate potential causes and treatment for your tinnitus.
Healthy habits such as going for long walks, getting massages and reducing caffeine intake are other ways to help alleviate tinnitus while waiting to be seen by a specialist.