I wear my hearing aids mainly during the day when at work in an open plan office.
Also at home when watching TV.
However when I don't wear them I get a Tinitus whistle sound.
Are the hearing aids doing damage?
I really don't want to wear them 24/7 as can manage ok without them.
Only need them at work to hear clear conversations.
Thanks for reading.
I found my hearing aids help with my tinnitus. I get a whistling sound without them but little with. I think it's because the ears are searching for any sound and it will exaggerate anything it picks up, even an artificially created sound such as tinnitus. With hearing aids, there is always some natural background noise which your ears can then pick up, so any tinnitus is suppressed. Similarly white noise can supress tinnitus.
I don't think hearing aids do any damage at all. In fact, I think they lead to longer term suppression of tinnitus and also keep the hearing brain circuits alive and kicking.
I don’t think the hearing aids will be doing any damage as they should be configured for your hearing loss but if you are concerned It may be a good idea to contact your audiologist with this question. I most certainly need to wear my aids all the time as I can’t manage at all without them☹️ and they haven’t made my tinnitus any worse - I tend to notice it when it’s quiet but not when there is background noise or I’m concentrating on something. I try to ignore it as much as I can🙂
Had tinnitus for 10 years+ after labyrinthitus and then Meniere's. High pitched loud ringing in left ear, hearing aids really help but during lockdown hearing has declined and waiting for appointment with ENT next month, hopefully to re-balance hearing aids. My tinnitus never stops, with me 24/7 but hearing aids do help. Only take mine out to sleep at night and after 7 years, would not be without them
