If you have tinnitus, then this is likely a symptom of a much bigger issue. Specifically, the ringing that you hear is a sign that you have a serious hearing loss problem. Tinnitus occurs as the brain no longer receives sound information as strongly as it once did from the ears. To make up for the lack of stimuli or information, the brain makes up sounds in response. These sounds are typically the ringing noises that you hear in your ears. Tinnitus often occurs due to hearing loss issues that are caused by old age, long-term damage, or by a specific injury to the ear or ears. While tinnitus is common amongst older individuals, this is not always the case. If you are experiencing the ringing problem, then a hearing aid can help you. Keep reading to find out why.

They Increase Ambient Noise

Hearing aids typically work by recording sounds through a microphone. The sound waves are then moved electronically to an amplifier that boosts the sound signals. Afterwards, the louder sounds are passed through a speaker that sits within the ear. Most hearing aids will filter out unnecessary background noises that include far away conversations or crowd noises. However, the aid will retain unique ambient noises, like a car beeping or a train whistle. 

The way the hearing aid processes noise helps to reduce tinnitus by completely stopping the low volume erroneous background noises that confuse the brain and cause ringing sounds. The amplification of the ambient noises helps to create stronger stimuli as well that will keep the brain from having to make up sound information when the noises are partially heard. When noise information is clear and concrete, the brain can focus on the stimuli and interpret it properly. The brain can then start to map the sounds onto the brain much like it did before you started having hearing problems. Sound linking will also resume normally so you can develop a sense of sound direction as well that is typically lost when tinnitus sets in. 

They Drown Out Tinnitus

If you have had tinnitus for a long period of time, then the condition may be more or less permanent. However, you are likely to hear ringing noises more often when sounds around you are soft. Thankfully, hearing aids help to increase sound volume consistently so that tinnitus ringing can be drowned out by the other noises that are brought into the hearing aid. While your tinnitus may not be cured, you will no longer be able to notice it. However, keep in mind that ringing can seep into your daily life if you invest in a traditional hearing aid that requires you to constantly adjust the volume. For this reason, think about opting for a digital hearing aid.

Hearing aids have been able to increase the volume of important sounds and reduce the volume of background noises for quite a few years. However, they could not increase the volume of important sound inputs to different levels based on their current volume. This means that hearing aids would increase the sound of the person talking next to you as equally as the beeping horn outside, until digital hearing aids were introduced.

Digital hearing aids work a bit differently by identifying different sound frequencies. These frequencies are organized into different channels of sound and the hearing aid will automatically adjust the volume of the different frequencies so that hearing is as natural as possible. This helps to keep volume consistent too, so that tinnitus can be drowned out in both loud and soft situations without having to make any hearing aid adjustments. 

Hearing aids are a good idea for you for a wide variety of reasons if you have tinnitus. If you have the condition and have trouble hearing, then make sure to speak with an audiologist today so you can find out which hearing aid brands are best. Contact a company like Audiology Consultants, P.C.​ for more info.

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