Tinnitus Masking features. Do they work for you?

Tinnitus
#18

My first visit to the VA audiologist, I was signed up for a class on how to cope with my ringing in my ears, what I learned from the class was what I had already been doing but it was great to have so many in that classroom to back my up on what was working for me.
So you ask what works for me. Never be in a quiet room where there is no sounds, and if that happens have something with you to mask the ringing in your ears, be it a Walkman with music playing or a sound machine in your bedroom, or a TV or radio station in the background. I worked in a phone support center and there was always people talking on the phones. I love to read and I read a lot, but when I read I have to have music or some kind of noise in the background, again just to mask the ringing in my ears. My ringing is so bad that my aids to not remove it, and I do not have aids that have anything in them to do so. I have always figured that if the aids was generating noise it would also be preventing me from hearing others talking to me. Also while I do not know it for a fact it just believe that the sound generation would kill the hearing aid batteries much faster.

I just wanted to add that I know there are some that cannot stand the ringing in their ears and that it drives them nuts. I guess I am lucky in the fact that I have learned to except it and to live with it. We all need to do what it takes for us to survive with the ringing in our ears.
I wish everyone the best of luck.

#19

Thanks for the feedback cvkemp. I’m sorry to hear that your HA’s don’t help with your tinnitus. I hope that I’m one of the lucky ones it does (only 7 more days!) But I like how you’ve managed to live with it. I too use distraction methods such as a relatively loud HEPA air filter in my office at work (because I can’t run music all of the time) and a sound machine program called White Noise that has dozens of choices on my iPad at home. I like to read as well and can’t tolerate music playing during reading, but this app alone makes it possible.

I also agree with you that a masking feature probably takes its toll on the batteries. But I really don’t know since my wife has never had any such features on her HAs. Anyone out there with this feature have any comments on how their usage effects battery life?

#20

With tinnitus you hear the sound, but if you put a microphone in your ear, there is no sound. Because there isn’t any sound, it is impossible to determine the phase of the tinnitus and then cancel it out. Everyone tells me the sounds that I hear are in my head and they are correct.

#21

The ringing in your ears is our brains way of feeling in the sounds that our ears are not giving it. I guess you could say it is an illusion that our brains are doing to keep it busy.

#22

I went to a free online wave generator at audionotch.com. It was pretty good. It helped me determine (to the best of my ability) that my left hear tinnitus was around 8500 Hz, while my right ear was closer to 7800 Hz.

I’m hoping that HA’s will be able to provide my brain with enough of a signal in these areas to trick it into not ‘producing’ those frequencies to fill the void. From what I understand, I have about a 50-50 shot. If regular old HA’s don’t work, I may try a HA with the masking feature that produces these waves at a low level, and perhaps force feeding my brain these particular sound waves will temporarily stop the tinnitus.

Of course, the irony being that I don’t hear ~8K+ sounds worth a darn in the real world. But they are produced in absolute stunning clarity in my brain’s made-up version. :frowning:

Fingers crossed here!

#23

No irony at all. That’s the cause of the tinnitus.

#24

I guess the true irony is…with Tinnitus being such a pervasive issue, (Three years ago Scientific American published a report that stated “Tinnitus is suffered by one in ten U.S. adults and by 40% of all veterans.”) how come we don’t hear more about it?

You would think that with the staggering amount of money to be made, the healthcare industry would throw more dollars at an actual and marketable therapy/solution be it surgical or external. I’d pay anything to be rid of my Tinnitus.

I sure hope HA’s work for me.

#25

There are several technologies and mask are available which is very useful for to work for the tinnitus problem, there are having some invisible device which are good for all day tinnitus relief. The prevalence of tinnitus is higher among the hearing impaired person than from the normal hearing person.
I have seen in most of the cases that the tinnitus masking features was working.

#26

Felipe, what specific technologies and devices are you referring to? Thanks!

#27

First week with Oticon Nera 2Pro MiniBTE with TI feature. Given the level of tinnitus I decided it was worth the small extra to get a TI masker and I’m glad I did.
Audiologist repeatedly stated that she doesn’t normally turn on the Tinnitus masker on the first fitting.
However after fitting the Nera she was surprised that it hadn’t altered the tinnitus at all, so the feature was activated that day.
At this stage its activated with a white noise masker. We are going to review as we learn.
In general the HA is providing relief from the tinnitus. You don’t notice it until you take the HA out of your ear and then suddenly the TI commences.
However when its bad the masker is definitely a relief.
The setup was quite simple, the audiologist just turned up the volume of the masker until I said it was loud enough to distract the mind from the tinnitus.
I also can adjust the volume of the masker by the buttons on the HA.

In summary both the normal program of the HA and the TI feature has definitely helped.
My ringing is around the 6000Hz range.

#28

Tinnitus masking seems to be working for me. Sometimes I feel like I should change the volume but I don’t have that option enabled. Over time the tinnitus goes away at the volume that it is currently set for. In fact, I recall my Audi saying to leave it at the same volume and I wouldn’t hear it after a while. That seems to have happened. Only rarely do I now hear the Tinnitus when my HA’s are in but even then it dissipates over time. Tinnitus is nowhere near what it was before I got my HA’s and I’m happy with that. If I make the masker louder it would interfere with what I should be hearing I think. Sounds like a breeze blowing much of the time or listening to a shell at the ocean.

#29

Hi, I have read almost each of the reply here:
according to research and opinion, all that matters is the correct use of the sound masking technology:

I am currently researching on this topic and have found plenty of information
some info about sound masking through whitenoise specifically for tinnitus patients can be found here:

also some useful products are listed here

hope that helps.

#30

I’ve been living with tinnitus for over 20 years and I’ve tried a lot of different options for the ringing in my ears, mainly herbal and over the counter treatments though. I never really thought about trying white noise masking options and sound therapy because I think it’s too expensive and I can’t afford it. I decided to take Lipo-Flavonoid for a spin and stray from my normal routine and I actually really like it! :slight_smile: I was nervous that it wasn’t going to work but it’s helping me manage my tinnitus and decrease the ringing (which I’m extremely grateful for). Has anyone tried it, and if you have, what do you think about it? https://lipoflavonoid.com/

#31

It looks like mostly vitamins to me when I check the ingredients? My tinnitus masking is working well with my HA’s. And I take vitamins, gingko, and all the other things that are supposed to help as well.

#32

Notice that this is a first time poster. Might just be spam. Note the signature.

#33

Could be… I don’t even see a signature.

#34

I have had severe to outrageous tinnitus for 30+ years. For the first year or two it was very distracting, but I have good attentional focus and am not conscious of the tinnitus when I’m paying close attention to something else (even reading).

When I was about 5 years into the tinnitus, I had some dental work that involved drilling, and was amazed and thrilled to have the experience of no tinnitus – my hearing was so clear! (except for the dentist’s drill, that is)

I wear Bolero V70s for now (still trial period), and they have no effect on my tinnitus.

My audi suggested that tinnitus can improve with increased input to the brain: if the tinnitus is caused by lack of neural input (so the brain generates its own), then giving the brain neural input in those frequencies might result in the brain having to generate less of its own “input”.

Does anyone have experience with tinnitus improving over time using HAs?

#35

I hardly notice my tinnitus while wearing my ha’s but they have tinnitus masking built in. I can’t say if I would notice my tinnitus without the masking. I can say that it comes back full force when I take my ha’s out at night so something is working correctly. Without the ha’s in it’s like having a yard full of crickets living in my head.

#36

Well, here I am…about a year down the road with my Bernafon Juna 9’s. Long story short…they do help the symptoms of my tinnitus considerably. That’s why I haven’t been back here…I just don’t really think about my tinnitus any more! The easiest way for me to tell if they are still working is to come home after a long day and take them out and clean them off, but then forget to put them back in. An hour later, and it is like REALLY loud cicadas in my head. And sticking them in doesn’t make it instantly go away either. Dang it. So for me, “masking features” didn’t do the trick, but getting a pair of the Juna 9’s from Costco darn sure did!

#37

Some people’s tinnitus drifts around to different frequencies so maskers can’t really help with that. I’ve seen it work wonders with others though. Also depends on the brand. Some are better than others. Phonak and Unitron are, by far, the best thought.