Increased noise

[sammie888]

Hi, folks do anybody else notices that their tinnitus seems so much louder once you remove your hearing aids?

[Happyrosie]

here’s an extract from what the British Tinnitus Association has about hearing aids. “Some studies have looked at the effect of hearing aids on every-day life for the tinnitus patient e.g. how a hearing aid may help reduce tinnitus and improve quality of life. Other studies have more strongly suggested that for a significant number of people, hearing aids do reduce the effect of tinnitus. Bilateral hearing aids (one on each ear) have been shown to be more beneficial than using only one aid.Since the introduction of digital hearing aids there can be more accurate tailoring of hearing aids to an individual and this has brought about an increase in the beneficial effect of hearing aids for tinnitus.”

there’s more about HAs on their website.

So, it means that when you are NOT wearing them, the sound of T is more prominent.

For me, that’s why I got hearing aids in the first place (though I did have bilateral hearing loss). The real world is more prominent when you’re wearing them so the T subsides, when you are not wearing them the T pokes it’s head up over the parapet

Hope this is helpful

[sammie888 in reply to Happyrosie]

Thanks Happyrosie.

[Zeis]

yes. I have severe tinnitus in my left ear and hearing loss. I have been wearing a hearing aid (Signia) for a year and get relief with it on to the point that I have started wearing it at night to help me stay a sleep. Without it my tinnitus has disturbed my sleep to a great extent. IMO. The hearing aid helps in several ways..the input of sound masks the ringing, stimulating hyper excites neurons responsible for tinnitus may also help. Also, my hearing has features that may help reduce the severity of the ringing. First, it has masking white/gray noise that I use when my ringing is particularly severe and can’t sleep. Second, it also uses Notch therapy which may or may not be effective…hard for me to discern. So in summary, wearing a hearing aid has greatly helped me cope with my tinnitus.

[sammie888 in reply to Zeis]

Thanks Zeis for your info, I think i will try wearing mine all night to see if that helps.

[Suz_2 in reply to Zeis]

can i ask how long have u been wearing hearing aids? and has the T reduced - I had the impression that HA's reduce the T volume eventually , even when not wearing them

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Sammie

It's the contrast effect - what you're noticing is that your hearing aids do a really good job of controlling your awareness of tinnitus. Rather than than tinnitus getting louder, necessarily, what you might be experiencing is the shift from wearing a device which helps with hearing loss to not wearing a device and being acutely aware of what our hearing is like without one.

[sammie888 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thanks BTAPat.

[Happyrosie in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Pat - so well expressed!

[Suz_2]

can the T volume eventually soften even when not wearing the HA's

[sammie888 in reply to Suz_2]

Hi Suz, yes it does but takes a couple of days it probably isn't any louder, but you really do tend to notice it more due to less outside noise due to takin out the hearing aid. Bit frustrating.