Hearing Aids for Tinnitus? Retired Audiologist's Honest Advice.
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- Do you really need hearing aids to manage your tinnitus?
Dr. Brad Stewart, tinnitus treatment specialist and former private practice audiologist shares honest, transparent advice on how you should approach hearing aids for your tinnitus.
00:00-00:28 Do I Need Hearing Aids for Tinnitus?
00:28-02:28 The Hearing Tinnitus Connection
02:28-03:55 How Hearing Aids Help Tinnitus
03:55-04:45 Impacts of Untreated Hearing Loss
04:45-05:27 Do Hearing Aids Always Help Tinnitus?
05:27-06:03 Can I Manage Tinnitus Without Hearing Aids?
06:03-08:13 How to Avoid Overpaying for Hearing Aids
Extreme, constant tinnitus, 20+ years, bought $7,000 hearing aids, but no help. I'd pay $70,000 to have just one week of relief.
😢😢😢😢
Thank you I needed to hear that because that's exactly what I thought and I have an appointment in January with an audiologist that said the same kind of garbage this guy is talking about
I sure hope you might get some better results than I did. Tennitus Sucks!!!!!!@@kandiceblu1
It's good that you're talking about the psychosomatic aspect of this. I wish there'd be more awareness of the fact that tinnitus is independent of hearing loss, you can have people like me that have always had tinnitus, but have no hearing loss.
I'm in the same boat, tinnitus with normal hearing. Loud days and quiet days, but being mindful and present always helps.
Thank You Brad. You are very informative abt hearing aids n tinnitus. Very very good advise👌
Great Information
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Cliff!
Very good explanation of how Tinnitus manifests it self in the brain. I have been suffering for 15 years with Tinnitus caused by over exposure to loud music. Actually it's been several years researchers have known Tinnitus is like phantom limb syndrome. But still there is no real effective treatment or cure . Why is this so ?
This was helpful because I am waiting on SSI money and have not thought of going to audiogilist going to do that now
I have put up with tinnitus as long as I can remember. Usually not a big deal except if I don't get a good night's sleep or have an unusually stressful day then it can be rather annoying. I have recently had hearing aids fitted professionally not especially for tinnitus but because my hearing is fading. So far, the aids haven't changed the tinnitus, but I am able to hear an amazing amount of sounds I haven't heard for a long time. Regarding tinnitus I really think getting plenty of good sleep and a relaxed environment will help.
Glad the hearing aids have helped your hearing clarity. You might be surprised over an extended time window, sometimes there's a long-term improvement in tinnitus with hearing aids.
Hello, thanks for this video, any association that you know for Canada ?
I've had high pitch tinnitus, like criket singing, for nearly nearly 20 years, and managed to deal with it with sound therapy. First they told me I had no hearing loss, and then they realised ( after a few years and a few ent doctors later) that I had otosclerosis. Now, ( 20 years later and more and regular sudden changes of hearing perception, hypercusy, sudden hearing loss, treated by steroids which eventually stopped working) and going around different cities to get a competent specialist, they found I have a tumor - a shwanom on my auditive nerve, apparently still too small to be worse operating. The sound is extremely loud, changes all day long, so it's impossible to get used to it, low pitch, and can be either on my good ear ( the one with the tumor has lost nearly all hearing) or all over my brain. I even get vibrations from my head down my body when it is at its worst. I'm going crazy, I'm on antidepressant, steroids, I can't stand noise as it is distorted and become even louder, so can't deal with sound therapy, and all I get from doctors is that it's all in my head and I should do relaxation and sound therapy, and that the vibrations are not linked ( when they definitely are). I feel totally gaslighted.
I'm sorry you've gotten bounced around and sounds like sub-par care. Have you tried an audiologist/therapist team that works with tinnitus and sound sensitivity?
@@drbradaud there are none in my city. But I will keep on looking.
Gosh totally scared now I have a sound that's like sos and sometimes I feel like the place is vibrating ,this is usually at night ,
@@TK-zc5wu and stress doesn't help. I feel your pain, but our brain can more or less adapt or at least cope with most things. Take care.
Have an appt with an AuD next week. I am very hopeful that they can help me. At 70, I'm not as young as I used to be and I am def going in with my eyes open. A miracle would be nice, but Im not expecting one.
How did it go?
@@drbradaud it went well. I def have high tone hearing loss, and my tinnitus of course. To be hones, being a retired senior I decided to try the Audien Atom OTC hearing aids first before dropping 3 grand on theirs. Today is my second day of wearing them. I am def hearing better! I'm in volume adjustment mode. I was told that it could take a week for my brain to adjust to hearing again at this level. I am very optimistic that I made the right decision to try these.
This was super helpful to me. My tinnitus and hearing loss started over the summer and I thought I was going to lose my mind with that noise (and some days still feel that way). I’ve seen a Dr and had hearing tests and MRI (since mine is one sided), and I think I need to try a hearing aide when I follow up next time. My Dr suggested we could try a hearing aide if I wanted to but at the time I thought I was managing the tinnitus ok, and opted the “wait and see” approach. I think I’ve reached the point where I’m willing to give that a go to see if it’ll help me. Thanks again !
Report back, look forward to hearing how you do!
Hearing aid doesn't help tinnitus. but if you got hearing loss and tinnitus by that like i do than hearing aid helps with at least 80% do down tinnitus. this is my own experience. it absolutly worth if you got hearing loss tinnitus.
Hi, could you please speak to the addition of hyperacusis into the equation? Thank you.
Hi doctor, do you give virtual consults?, thanks
Thank you. Excellent advice and without a buy it here now feature.
Happy it was helpful
I have had tinnitus since I was about 20 years old. I am now 64 years old. You would think my brain would have gotten used to my missing hearing by now?
Have you tried hearing aids?
Thanks for this video…I have been putting off hearing aids for my hearing loss.
Glad it was helpful! I'm a big advocate of treating your hearing loss unless there's a meaningful reason not to.
Very interesting and I understand, BUT... I have Hyperacusis, I tried a masker years ago, as suggested by my Dr. It made the "T" worse. I got it when I was 19 yo. I am now a senior.
I am able to reduce the amount of my tinnitus through diet.. the ringing in my ears has dropped a lot.. I'm thinking of not getting hearing aids now. 😊
Hello. Did you get it from loud music? Do you have any hearing loss? What diet are you on and did you see results? thank you. Be well!😊
I’ve had a high pitched tone in my left ear for over twenty years. Last year I endured a head injury resulting in a diagnosed concussion. My Tinnitus has increased over 40%. I haven’t had a hearing test yet. My concern is, does the Tinnitus interfere with the ability to focus on a task as it is a built in distraction? Lastly, does this ringing vibration put undue stress on the nervous system? I’m thinking it does. Thank you!
It can cause distraction and distress, but these reactions can be managed and reduced significantly.
what keeps me okay with the ringing that gets louder every year even though I’m just 14, is that a everyone has it
How can hearing aids possibly help me with the tinnitus cause the ringing is very constant and it occasionally gets louder when background noise doesn’t change?
The comments about going to a major metro are important. I have horrible, even painful UHF tinnitus somewhere around the 15-16k range after several incidents with headphones, even so bad that the stereo picture of my hearing changed. I waited 45 days to line up an audiologist and the only ENT within 150 miles - only to be told that "their machine does not test over 10k" and lectured that, "I already knew more about my tinnitus than 98% of patients they see." The ENT then said they could offer me an SSRI.
Hahah, that was it - and two bills later, I have ZERO to show for it. Safe to say no, I was not taking an SSRI for my tinnitus. I wanted some kind of device with counter-tone therapy (ie: masking) but they didn't even offer. Looking back at it, I should have demanded, but go figure neither the local audiologist or ENT were qualified to really deal with it. I've been meaning to look for someone good in Atlanta, and it just seems you have to commute if you want quality care these days.
Sorry to hear that. HearingUp.com is a good source for vetted audiologists.
I'm in my 40s, have had mild tinnitus since birth plus bad hearing (down to 70db at 8kHz). A year ago I went for microsuction and it took the tinnitus from mild to severe and sound reactive. I did a hearing test and it showed the same results as before the microsuction. Am I right in thinking that because the trauma I had (microsuction) hasn't apparently caused any further hearing damage to warrant the increase in tinnitus that hearing aids will be of no benefit to the tinnitus? - I am not fussed about the bad hearing at all, just the tinnitus.
I have also been concerned about adding more sound through hearing aids if the tinnitus is already very sound reactive and becoming worse through every day noise?
Yes it might benefit. Find an audiologist specializing in tinnitus if you can.
Has any one here heard of the Susan shore device?
I have both hearing loss & tinnitus. I have a very expensive hearing aids with tinnitus sound masking programs, however the tinnitus has not gone away. I have difficulty falling and staying sleep- I have to take GABA, Melatonin + Magnesium + Rhodiola to fall asleep. Like you said doctor hearing aids may not work for all and unfortunately they haven’t helped me or at least not yet
Ask your doctor for a low dose amitriptylene prescription, 20 mg daily. Do a daily log of your tinnitus say 7 days prior to taking the amitriptylene nightly and continue the daily log for a week or two. See if it makes any difference. It knocks my tinnitus down noticeably.
Any side effects?
No side effects from taking this low dosage but once on it for a while I have to wean myself off of it when I want to stop for any reason.
Hi iv tinnitus 4 years now (( was 24 at the time )) after using an angle grander and got a few hearing test said my hearing was fine and got seen by ENT got few test same again said hearing was normal and ear is functioning normal my question is would it be possible for a hearing aid to permanently get rid of tinnitus once the auditory part of the brain gets re stimulated and would you still need to keep wearing the hearing aid after it's gone. Thanks
If you have normal hearing then you don’t need amplification. Sometimes loud sound can cause damage that doesn’t show up on a hearing test. You could use sound therapy to distract yourself from the tinnitus, and if it’s bothering you look into cognitive behavioral therapy.
Tinnitus lately kept me awake also felt like in a little mini earthquake anyone else feel that? And a most annoying telegraph like sound in left ear while right ear develops a horrible level tone. I have hearing loss also.how can hearing aids help tinnitus because at night when u really hear the tinnitus u have to take the aids out!!
I've got hearing damage.
Hi . I got mix high frequency hearing loss and tinnitus in both ears , I was fitted whit starkey prescription hearing aids, after using only for 1 month I developed haperacusys and made my tinnitus louder . Am not using anymore and tinnitus got little bit lower and haperacusis is gone . I don’t know what to do if I don’t use them I cannot treat hearing loss but if I used am makes lots off nose , am in big treble pls any advice 🙏
Sometimes hearing aids can ramp up the anxiety and cause you to over fixate on the tinnitus. For now try to use sound in your environment as a distraction, take care of your health and get plenty of sleep, and possibly look into cognitive behavioral therapy.
Once tinnitus has calmed down you may consider trying a different audiologist who specializes in patients with tinnitus if possible.
Same as me😢....how are you now?
Do you think this happens if your hearing loss is more around 12k? Thjs also seems to be the pitch of my tinnitus - might there be a connection?
Damage in the high-frequency ranges can lead to tinnitus, so could be!
Do modern hearing aids amplify or play high frequency sounds (over 10khz)? I've had tinnitus for over 10 years, yet my hearing is considered "normal" because they usually don't check over 8khz. I bought some Widex hearing aids about 10 years ago with white noise and chimes, but now they don't mask the high pitch tinnitus, which is the only bothersome sound to me, and seems to be in the 11-14khz range.
The answer is no. My hearing is jacked in my right ear over 11k.hearing aid does nothing. Sound is debilitating
Most hearing aids cut off below 9kHz. I plan on creating some videos around masking/sound therapy strategies in the next month.
@@drbradaud Thanks for the replies. Do you know why they are limited like this? Of course, all headphones can easily play a full range of frequencies. Why not hearing aids? When I get a hearing test and they tell me my hearing is normal, but I look back at the pain I've had over the last 10 years, I can't help but wonder why. Many sounds over 9khz exist, even if not part of human speech patterns, the hearing loss I have does affect my ability to hear people in noisy environments, and the tinnitus is always there, no matter how I try to ignore it. Thanks again.
Physical limitations due to the driver size, plus most speech frequencies are under 8kHz so not a lot of incentive. Check out Dr. Cliff's video about xMIMS, pretty promising new speaker tech that could change this@@zephyr2002
@@drbradaud not sure the link here works.
In my case I'm not sure a hearing aid would be of any help because :
- Tinnitus is mostly in my left hear with no apparent hearing loss (went to an ENT a month ago)
- I have a feeling of "overpressure" and tension in my left hear
- The high pitch ringing gets MUCH louder when I contract my jaw, neck or cranial muscles, ie when I produce additional tension.
This makes me feel like the origin might be mechanical, or a chronic inflammation. I don't know if that's a thing.
Did the ENT order further testing?
I just watched a video on CZcams about the scm muscle in the neck and tinnitus. Sounds just like what you’re describing and in the video they show you massages you can do.
Does this mean the entire sound signal goes through a hearing aid and not just the portion of the spectrum that has the tinnitus issue, so basically you're not naturally hearing everything because everything is going through a filter of sorts.
Depends on your loss. For example, if you only have high-frequency hearing loss, most audiologists would do an "open" hearing aid fitting, letting low-pitched sounds in to be heard naturally and just amplifying high-pitched sounds.
I'm a 54 year old male, I've severe one sided tinnitus and hearing loss on my right ear. For the past two years I'm wearing one hearing aid and I absolutely love it. Without it the tinnitus is unbearable. It's a pity in Ireland the cost of one single hearing aid is only slightly less than a pair. I wish I could have been able to purchase two right sided for the price of a regular pair but I was told no not possible. If I had been able I could just swap over and keep one on all night
Glad your hearing aid helps!
I had my face broken in a seizure.
I couldn’t hear the cricket. 😧
Time for a hearing test 👂
I found a cricket video just today and it was uncanny. Masked the tinnitus
At certain times of the year where I live the crickets are quite loud. My wife hates it, but I love it as it masks my tinnitus. Lol
Yeah, that can be an effective sound. Glad it helped!
Arrête avec vos prothèses auditives sacrées arnaque !!!!
Hi doctor, do you give virtual consults?, thanks
Not at this time but it’s something I’m considering. Where are you located, may be able to help you find someone good nearby.
@@drbradaud México, doctor. But here I can't find someone specialized on Tinnitus, most of the info is on English );
@@JayJay-fn3gp my friend Ben Thompson has a company called Treble Health, they do Telehealth tinnitus counseling. Tell him I sent you.