Hearing aids for tinnitus relief

[Karlos]

Hi there,

I've had tinnitus since 2007. It hasn't stopped once. It's a pain to say the least, but I kind of habituated. However, I've had some real spikes of recent years some of which have taken me to a very darl place indeed. And I am currently going through the worst yet, I now have three constant and very loud noises in my head. I've been stubborn I suppose but I am finally desperate enough to try the hearing aids which have been sat in my drawer for two years. I am going to attempt it when I feel positive (not very often right now!)

I didn't really get any advice when they handed me the hearing aids. So thoughts and advice welcome. Please positive stories only, I'm not too good!

I'd also be interested to hear if anyone is into sports, cycling in particular and who use hearing aids. I have some standard NHS ones but if they can help at all I would consider upgrading to something programmable. I'm also into music so anything with good sound I'd be interested to hear too.

Stay strong all, and thank you.

[Happyrosie]

there was a post about this a couple of days ago - scroll down and you’ll see answers to your points I think . It’s titled “tinnitus and hearing aids”.

I use NHS ones myself and am happy with them.

[Karlos in reply to Happyrosie]

Ah right, thank you. I hadn't thought to do that. It's been awhile since I used a forum!

[Bob2a]

I have had the standard NHS hearing aids for about 4 years and found that while wearing them I didn't notice my tinnitus so much as I could hear so much better. A year ago I was offered the chance to upgrade to Bluetooth hearing aids through the NHS. I really like them. I can answer calls on my mobile and listen to music through them. I have an app on my phone with several settings that I can program for different situations, like reducing background noise and focussing on conversation when in the pub. You can even listen to the TV through them though. They are Phonak ones compatible with an android phone. The only problem is that batteries only last around 5 days and the NHS don't like giving you too many in one go but I would definitely recommend them.

[dutyhog]

My NHS Phonak (Sky M70 SP) batteries last about a fortnight or more, that’s using them for maybe 15 hours a day, including Bluetooth listening to music, podcasts and Radio 4, and very occasionally a recording I made of the stream running by our garden to mask my pulsatile tinnitus at night. So I’m puzzled that others last only 5 days.

I agree that aids help tinnitus, especially pulsatile, by making external or Bluetooth sounds match or exceed the volume of the tinnitus.