How are hearing aids that I can’t sleep in supposed to help my tinnitus I mostly hear at night?

Tinnitus
#1

I saw an audiologist for tinnitus that I only ever hear at night. She put me in a $7000 pair of hearing aids that I’m supposed to wear ten hours a day.

I’ve had them for a few days now and now I hear tinnitus 24/7. It’s possible I hear it in the day time now because I’m thinking about it so much. When I take them off, the tinnitus sounds exactly the same. It seems no better or worse with the hearing aids.

But of course at night when I go to bed, it’s just as loud as ever. My question is what on earth do I need $7000 hearing aids for?? It’s it supposed to magically trick my brain into not hearing the tinnitus after a while? Even at night when I’m not wearing them? At this point I think a cheap pair of EarPods and a white noise app on my phone would do more good.

Please educate me. I don’t want to be in debt for years paying these off if they don’t really work

#2

I sleep with my aids in every night.
I have a tinnitus program that I use at night and depending on the situation the day also.
I’ve learned to sleep with them.
It’s an adjustment but it is possible.
Mine are rechargeable.
I recharge them in the morning when I get up.
The house is noisier
in the morning.
Do you wear aids strictly for the tinnitus?
My tinnitus does seem louder when I take the aids out
It’s not. It just seems like it with the aids out.

This is a sound machine that people use to sleep at night.
There are multiple manufacturers on Amazon.
Depending on your tinnitus it may or may not help.

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#3

I sleep with a sound machine set to white noise. My aids are the first thing I put on after my glasses in the morning and the last thing I removed before my shower or bed time.

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#4

The VA bought me one of those (S-6000), a BST-100 with a pillow speaker. I like the S-6000, but I use the little speaker with the speaker pillow every night. Both of those systems have something like a dozen sounds and they aren’t the same. The different sounds give you more opportunity to find an optimally effective treatment. They (VA) also have a cognitive behavioral therapy program which teaches how to deal with it all in a positive manner, coping skills. DIstracting and masking, etc.

I like the Widex Zen Tinnitus app on my iphone a lot. Nice little freebie. The “Calm” program in that does a good job for me.

hth

WH

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#5

I bought a cheap nose machine from woot.
Useless to me.
I’m thinking about trying a Sound Oasis unit.
I like the noise in my ears.
That seems like the only way I can override the tinnitus.

#6

I have a transistor radio I use.
I tune it to a blank spot on the radio.
This creates static.
Not as good as my aids but it helps.

#7

I’d finish out the trial, but if the tinnitus is the same with or without the aids, I think that’s the answer to whether you should spend $7000 on them. Even if they did work, if you don’t have any other hearing issues, airpods with the right frequency of white noise may work just as well for a lot less. I wouldn’t (and didn’t) drop that kind of money on hearing aids without exhausting every possible cheaper alternative, even if I could comfortably afford it.

As for sleeping in them, I suspect everyone posting here has fallen asleep with their hearing aids in somewhere along the line. Nothing bad has ever happened when I did it. I wouldn’t risk it during the trial, though, just in case they get damaged and can’t be returned.

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#8

There are many things which can help besides items specifically for tinnitus; some can work surprisingly well at it. Fans, air cleaners, little desktop water fall things, aquariums, etc. radio was already mentioned. If hearing loss isn’t a primary issue, there are a lot of things that can be done.

WH

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#9

That was my question as well.
Hopefully you will get some help about all this on the forum.
Learn a little about your tinnitus, hearing loss and hearing aids.
This should help you make better decisions about your hearing.
Good luck

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#10

@Beth1 Get a refund ASAP, unless if you can afford the $7000, otherwise I will get a refund if I was you.
You will need to check the T&C for a refund.
$7000 for tinnitus treatment is just insane, unless if this is just half of the story!
Do you have hearing loss and what’s your audiogram looks like?

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#11

There are different types of tinnitus, in my case it’s pulsative, and kinda sounds like waves breaking. A repeated whoosh sound.

Here’s where it gets interesting, just inserting the phonak domes in my ears before turning the hearing aids on, change the pressure in my ear canals enough to make it almost go away.

I have been considering just inserting a pair of Phonak slim tubes and domes without the hearing aids at night. I might give that a try soon.

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#12

I have had tinnitus for decades, but I only hear it when something reminds me of tinnitus. There are dozens of things that remind me like:
a hearing aid ad on TV.
a thread like this
a small noise outside
or trying to go to sleep
and the list goes on

I think a hearing aid program will keep reminding you of your tinnitus.

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#13

At no point in time does my tinnitus let me forget that’s it there.
Right now looking at TV there is no way I can ignore it, especially in the right ear.
I envy people who say they just do not pay attention to it.
Mine makes sure I know it’s there 24/7.

#14

Have you tried a CBT program? There are some on YouTube if your healthcare won’t provide one. I think I had between 3 and 6 hours in my program, but the basic ideas shouldn’t take too long.

WH

#15

Through the ATA
American Tinnitus Association I actually found an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus in my area.
I haven’t set up an appointment yet.
Thinking about doing it this week.
The only time I’m not bothered is in the shower, when I’m walking in the park.
Traffic noise, train noise. When I wear headphones.
I love the wind.
Wind in my aids is peace.
My right ear I swear I can feel it.
I went to the ENT and said I think I may have some type of pulsatile tinnitus.
It’s not always there.
It comes and goes.
Today is a bad day.
That’s when he told me about ATA.
The ENT’s I’ve seen are not interested.
His Audi is not interested.
So that’s why I’m going to try the tinnitus Audi.
They do mention CBT on their website.

#16

Forgot to mention.
Using my to tinnitus program.
It does help.
I still hear it but it helps distract.

#17

I’ve downloaded the Oto app and am working through their daily lessons. This hearing aid trail is very annoying for me because I think my tinnitus has been MUCH worse ever since I first made a doctor appointment for it a month ago because now I’m just thinking about it all the time. And now I have hearing aids in, so I’m thinking about those, so it’s like, of course my tinnitus is worse.

My tinnitus was actually better and less intrusive and less anxiety-causing BEFORE I ever made my appointment in the first place. The problem is I can’t get my mind to stop thinking about it, so yes, I think I need some CBT.

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#18

Yes I’m wearing them strictly for tinnitus. I’ve had them a few days and I “hear” the tinnitus all the time with them in… when I take them out, the tinnitus is exactly the same. Seems to better or worse with the hearing aids. So I really don’t think I need them.

#19

Like I said my experience the tinnitus is always the same volume too me.
It’s just more noticable without the hearing aids in.
I have multiple sounds.
The only thing constant is the ringing in my left ear.
The left ear sound is always distorted like a broken speaker.
With or without the aids in.
Like I told you before, you can and will adapt.
Go to ata.org.
That’s the tinnitus associations website.
Read the site.
They have something called
The Lenoir.
It’s designed to help not focus on the tinnitus.
Can’t say how it works.
Never used it.

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#20

For me while I have tinnitus 24/7/365 I don’t wearing hearing aids for my tinnitus and don’t even have a tinnitus program on my aids. To be honest I don’t notice my tinnitus because I have over the many years I have had it, since Thanksgiving 1975, have learned to compartmentalize it most of the time. And my hearing loss is severe so my aids have a large amount of amplication. But once I take my aids off and if I allow myself to think about my tinnitus then I will hear it in spades. It is always there but like I said I have had to compartmentalize it just like I had to do to forget so many things over the years. My dad was military, the Navy, and I followed in his footsteps and the biggest thing that my dad taught me and the Navy taught me was to put unpleasant things out of my mind so I can get the things done that have to be done. And that means filling my tinnitus away in a filling cabinet of sorts in the very far back of my mind.

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