Hearing aides that actually help with tinnitus?

[flowermaid]

Hello, I have had hearing loss and tinnitus-for approximately 10-15 years. Does anyone know of any hearing aides that help in blocking tinnitus? I had hearing tests & a brain scan as my hearing deteriorated reasonably quickly. I had national health hearing aides but they just made me notice my tinnitus more. It drove me mad so I stopped wearing them but I struggle so much to hear anyone or concentrate on what people are saying. My hearing is a lot worse now. I am driving my family mad (and myself!)as I cannot take in what they are saying most of the time-they are fed up with repeating what they say continuously! I have an appointment with Hidden hearing but have seen bad reviews. Anyone use their aides? I think I really need to be able to try some for a few weeks to see if they actually help or not. I also take thyroid medication which some people say the condition is linked? Any advise would be really appreciated, thank you.

[doglover1973]

HAs usually help mask T by increasing what you can hear . Having said that I can still hear my T in my deafer ear even with a HA. Have you had a follow up with the NHS audiologist? It might be worth asking them to adjust the HAs for you. If you go private make sure you know how long you've got before the refund expires. It's usually between 8 and 12 weeks. All the best.

[flowermaid in reply to doglover1973]

Thank you for your reply, very helpful.

[Hylda2 in reply to flowermaid]

My NHS hearing aids link to my iPhone and I can either play a white noise programme or an app which has soft sounds.

[flowermaid in reply to Hylda2]

Thank you for your reply, I think the hearing aids I had are too old to be able to do this with, plus 1 doesn't work. But thank you.😀

[Hylda2 in reply to flowermaid]

I had the old ones but they very kindly replaced them with these

[flowermaid in reply to Hylda2]

Oh, I may ask about this thank you for the info! I would like to know if paying for private hearing aids compared to NHS ones is worth the investment -are they actually better considering the prices?!

[Hylda2 in reply to flowermaid]

I asked the guy that and he said there is no difference. The NHS ones cost £2k plus a pair.

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to flowermaid]

My NHS ones are free and have blue tooth. Linked to my I-phone .I can listen to LBC .. The optician ones( I did the 3 month trial) were £2000 and the tinnitus sound therapy was exactly the same sound as my T!

[bantams]

Hi, I have NHS hearing aids which have 2 T masking sounds on them which I can adjust via my phone which I find help me to not focus on my T. They do take you a few weeks to get use to wearing them. Specsavers will give you upto 90 days for a refund if not happy with the hearing aids, also I think Boots give a 60 day refund.

[flowermaid in reply to bantams]

I went to my local Specsavers, they said they would give me a hearing test but didn't think it would help as they are not qualified to deal with tinnitus?! 🤷‍♀️But thank you for your reply.

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to flowermaid]

my specsavers audiologist said sometimes they do help but not everyone.

[ETHEL103]

Hi its strange you mention the thyroid link as I'm trying to get a levo review as a locum at my practice picked up on a latest blood test my tsh level is high.Thyroid UK have said I'm undermedicated.Got to wait for 3 weeks for just a pharmacist call.No gp.My point is I complained to locum about bad tinnitus and daily headaches for weeks at a time and she said we'll thyroid issues can excerbate Tinnitus.

[flowermaid]

Hi, I too have a lot of headaches. Not all the time but every few weeks. I have always said that my medication is not high enough -I take the minimum dose but they always say 'its in the normal range ' on my current amount?! But yes I think I agree with you! Thanks for your reply.😀

[Bellyboo]

Hi. I also tried hearing aids but made no difference at all to my T.

[Darren6]

I would also suggest looking into using the hearing aids for sound therapy. This is a process of playing a constant calm sound lower than the volume of your T and over a long period of time your brain will learn to defocus on the T. This is the way some people like myself have managed to habituate to the noise completely. The hearing aids need to be configured and monitored by an audiologist who is trained in sound therapy and as far as im aware SpecSavers dont offer this.

[flowermaid in reply to Darren6]

Thank you -that's very helpful to know Darren.

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to Darren6]

Got my HAs . They do have a T program , but I can’t hear it , the audiologist said my T is louder than the program .

[Darren6 in reply to Kellythecat-74]

out of interest, which HA's are they?

[Kellythecat-74 in reply to Darren6]

Specsavers top range own ones . They made my T worse if I had them in all day .

So the audiologist has ordered me the Signia ones to try . They don't do Widex which I would have preferred from my research.

[foreveroutdoors]

This is very interesting, thank you for sharing. I have both T and Thyroid meds (had both for over 10 years) had no idea there is a possible link. I did not get on with my initial HA (a few years ago) so never wore them. But have had a new test and will get the new ones i a couple of weeks. I asked about the difference in NHS and ones you pay for and he said it is a massive difference in clarity as their technology is much better (as you pay for it)...?? So they seem to say different things...?