Tinnitus is not new. But maybe it’s new to you, like a loud used car you can’t return. Normally, though not always, tinnitus reveals itself as an incessant buzzing or ringing in the ears. Sometimes, the sound is very intense. However tinnitus is experienced by you, this point is probably true: you are most likely searching for new ways of managing your tinnitus if it’s something that’s troubling you.
In that, you’re in luck because while tinnitus doesn’t yet have an overall cure, there are a few novel therapies that can help you manage symptoms. Some of those therapies even involve your tongue.
The Newest Way to Handle Tinnitus
One of the most recent therapies for tinnitus seems a bit weird at first but does appear to show some promise. This device, developed at the Trinity College School of Medicine in Dublin, stimulates both the ear and the tongue. Bi-modal neurostimulation is the technical term for this method.
According to the first tests of this device, the results were fairly optimistic. Most individuals received treatments for twelve weeks or so. Within those 12 months, those same individuals noticed a dramatic decrease in tinnitus symptoms. But this kind of therapy is still in the testing phase and not generally available yet.
What Can I do Now to Get Tinnitus Relief?
Of course, it takes years for devices to work their way from research and development to patient availability. So maybe you’re wondering what can be done now to help control your tinnitus.
There are, fortunately, some tinnitus management devices that has recently come onto the market. And the most common way to handle your tinnitus is a modern hearing aid.
It works like this:
Your hearing aid can give you something else to listen to. When you start to lose your hearing, the sounds of the outside world get quieter and that can make the internal sounds of tinnitus become louder. A hearing aid can boost the volume on the rest of the audio spectrum. That doesn’t lower the volume of your tinnitus, but it could make the ringing less obvious.
There is a sound masking device comparable to a modern hearing aid. A masking device may be the answer if your hearing loss is minor. A hearing aid has a comparable appearance to a masking device. And masking technology can be combined with modern hearing aids. Your tinnitus symptoms can be masked by sounds emitted by this type of technology. In some cases this will be a tone, in other cases, it might be some white noise. Whatever will best hide the humming in your ears.
Obviously, this is only a starting point. We can demonstrate devices that work best with tinnitus. Give us a call.