Hi - I have a mild case of tinnitus that comes and goes, primarily in my ear with the most hearing damage (no surprise there).
My audi currently doesn’t have anything set for tinnitus in either of my HAs. I think he wants me to get full range benefits from the HAs, and so far I am pretty happy with his decision.
Would there be a significant benefit if he enabled tinnitus features in my Paradise HAs? What would be the side effects if he does? Should he set tinnitus compensation in just one HA, or do I need both?
Since you got the new aids, it takes a long while for your brain to accept the full range of benefits. As you get used to the aids, it is possible that your mild case of Tinnitus might go away or become less bothersome.
Many people reported that their Tinnitus became less bothersome by changing their diet. Processed meats, sugared drinks, candies, sweeteners, too much coffee does make your Tinnitus worse so cut back on those.
In addition, stress feeds on Tinnitus and cause it to spike so try to keep your stress levels low as possible.
Music soundtracks like ocean waves, raining, pink noise can help mask your Tinnitus.
I tried the tinnitus feature in the P90s for 2 days and then switched it off as it was not helping. The caveat with me may be that I’ve had chronic tinnitus for so many years that it’s become more of a minor annoyance rather than pathological.
I think the main downside is trying/using it focuses your attention on the tinnitus which is typically counterproductive.
I have P70’s and tinnitus as well. I have noticed a huge difference in my tinnitus since using hearing aids without the feature even turned on. I however have had tinnitus for most of my life so I’m very used to not paying attention to it. But having the aids in has reduced it dramatically.
The main reason I brought this up is because my tinnitus in my more damaged ear seems to get significantly worse now when I am driving. I never really paid much attention to tinnitus when I was driving in the past, but it has become much more noticeable with the Paradise P90s.
I am not sure if it is because the P90s are attempting to make the car environment less noisy such that the tinnitus becomes more pronounced now, or if it is something else. I was wondering what I might experience if my audi enabled tinnitus mitigation, and whether I should be pursuing that.
I have P90’s and tried the tinnitus reduction option for a couple weeks and it really didn’t help. It produces a low level white noise is all and that’s supposedly supposed to help. I personally got tired of the white noise, we did make adjustments to it over the course of a couple weeks but eventually I just had my audi turn it off. Just having the HA’s in does help a good amount I know that. Now, I am not saying it may not help someone else, we are all wired differently. For me though, it was a no go.
This is for Phonak models right, you’ll need the target software and a Noahlink wireless programming device or just ask your local Audiologist clinic to do it for you, but it might not be tinnitus controller, could be floor noise.
I reduced it enough turning down noise reduction a lot. I tried changing compression. No luck
I went to my hearing aid specialist. He changed settings using Target. What an amazing difference!
He had me try the tinnitus masker about 3 months ago. I had him turn it off. I didn’t like it
I returned today a week later. They replaced both my Power Receivers
Hope this helps
edit: I have bad tinnitus in each ear. It’s been there a very long time; I’m used to it. Except when I’m stressed it’s much worse. If you know how not to stress please let me know.
When my audiologist enabled the tinnitus feature she put it on one program. I think it was an extra calm with a subtle pink noise. It helped a small bit but I have a variety of tools to help. Several of my tools came from Sound Oasis. Between them I have dozens of soundscapes for variety. But I’ve settled on a white noise based sound for my sleep.
You want it relatively quiet. Just below the perceived volume of your tinnitus. There are other ways to address it, too. A fan or air cleaner. Mini waterfall or fountain. A radio or tv playing in the background. Lastly, there are apps you can get to play sounds from your phone or tablet. Widex makes a few. One I enjoy listening to sometimes has sounds like wind chimes and a crackling fire burning. The sounds are randomized to some extent so it never seems like it is repeating.
Focus on other things and it should melt into the background. Avoid very quiet places. Like audiological testing booths.
Thanks for the responses. Fortunately, I really don’t have much trouble with tinnitus, so I’ll have my audiologist turn that feature off next time I go in. I did create my own program and used the “calm” setting. Seems to have helped a lot.