Hearing Aids & Tinnitus

[SimonMorriss]

I have recently been refereed by my GP for a hearing test to help with my Tinnitus. Soon after getting the NHS appointment I was transferred to a private consultant which I was very happy with.

The consultation went on and I have average hearing loss. When I asked him about Tinnitus he said there is nothing that can be done, just live with it.

Should I challenge this as I have seen a lot of advice saying that Hearing Aids do help.

Thanks

Simon

[Judyspal]

Has your GP referred you to ENT,who would have given you a hearing test and sent you for an MRI scan,just to make sure that their is no underlying cause for the tinnitus they would then normally send you for hearing rehabilitation,and down that road,like myself,you will see an Audiologist,personally I would have stayed with the NHS.

[bazshaw]

Simon. I found the nhs hearing aids to be excellent and helped me with my tinnitus.Before I had them I had tried private ones and found the nhs ones just as good.Also excellent service from the nhs,spare batteries and service ect. I find the hearing aids pick up sounds which are a help to mask the tinnitus.The one problem is the time you have wait to get your nhs hearing aids but unless you want to spend £3000 on private ones you are better waiting. Barry

[HissingSid]

Definitely challenge this private consultant’s ignorance of tinnitus. At the very least you should have been given hearing aids fitted with masking sounds and advise on other activities you can do to distract yourself from the noises. Hopefully it was the NHS who paid for the consultation fee and not at your expense.

[SimonMorriss]

Thanks everyone for your comments, I will go back to them to challenge. Just for clarification I was refereed by my GP to the local hospital but due to backlog they paid for me to go private. I'm not sure now if this is money well spent as I need to challenge further and probably start the process again. Thanks

[Lindaann55]

i was fitted with hearing aids on the nhs yesterday ... my hearing is fine but it is to retrain the signal from ear to brain ! heres hoping xxx

[berry76]

Hi Simon. I have hearing aids (both privately purchased and another set provided by the NHS) for "average hearing loss" (at 78 yrs old) but both pairs have an additional white noise masker and I find this really helps. Many folk find hearing aids a nuisance or they don't want to look old prematurely - but anything that is a comfort in living with tinnitus must surely be welcomed? I would recommend pursuing acquiring these. Best wishes.

[Hidden]

The tinnitus clinic within my NHS audiology department suggested hearing aids may help, as they help you hear what you're missing out on & your brain then doesn't focus on listening to the tinnitus as much.