About 10 years ago, I experienced a sudden onset of tinnitus in my left ear. One day, while driving to work, a sound like cicadas started in my left ear, and it never went away. I think most of us occasionally will hear a brief noise in our ears that will last a few seconds and then go away. It is a very different experience when it never stops.
Tinnitus is often a symptom of high frequency hearing loss and may be more common in people who have been exposed to loud noise. Some medications have tinnitus listed as a side effect. Some people notice it more when they have allergies or sinus issues, or impacted wax. If the internal noise is related to a treatable condition, or a medication, then there may be improvement when the treatment is resolved, or the medication is changed (if possible). Discussing this with your Physician is the first step. Unfortunately, your tinnitus may be there to stay, and then we need to learn how to manage the symptoms.
For the first year and a half, the cicada sound that I heard was not bothersome. One day, the sound changed to a very high pitch shrill sound that would get louder if I was under stress or not feeling well. One day I decided it was time to look for help managing the noise. I experimented with several different hearing aids and tried their different tinnitus maskers. Hearing aids can help to mask the internal noise in a couple of different ways. If you have hearing loss, having the hearing aids set to amplify the range you are not hearing will allow you to hear your environment better. This will often distract your attention from the internal noise you normally hear. The other thing that hearing aid offer is a noise generator to mask tinnitus. I utilize this in my Starkey Genesis 24 hearing aids because the noise the hearing aid makes is a much more pleasant sound than the noise my ear makes. While my ear noise never goes away, I notice it far less when I wear my hearing aids!
I wish I could give you the magic elixir to get rid of your tinnitus, but there is no such thing. Ignore the ads you see for products that will make it “go away.” Unless your tinnitus is tied to something treatable, the best thing we can do is find ways to manage our tinnitus. For me that means working on managing my stress level and wearing my Starkey Genesis 24 hearing aids. I speak from experience!
I am one of the Audiology Doctors with Gardner Audiology. I am in Spring Hill, but we provide hearing aids with tinnitus maskers at all 10 of our Tampa Bay clinics. Call 1-800-277-1182 or email info@gardneraudiolgy.com for more information or to schedule an appointment. We accept most all insurances.
