When and How to Find Relief

If you are one of the approximately 9.2 million Canadians who reportedly suffered from ringing in the ears in the past year, you may be interested to know there is relief. Tinnitus is a complex yet common symptom we experience for numerous reasons. Some common factors that contribute to tinnitus include, but are not limited to, acquiring hearing loss or having a history of exposure to loud noises.

Tinnitus can occur as a result of neuroplasticity, the ability of your brain to adjust following functional changes in the ear, such as damage to hair cells that cause “missing” sound information. The overall mechanism of tinnitus can be quite complex, and more prevalent or severe for people also suffering from sleep disorders, mood disorders and high levels of stress. In fact, individuals who reported suffering from tinnitus reported poorer levels of overall wellbeing. Many people who notice ringing in their ears ask their family doctors for treatment to make the ringing stop, and many are told there is nothing that can be done. While there is no cure to make tinnitus disappear permanently today, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer.

First, have a professional assess your hearing. In many cases tinnitus sufferers who also have hearing loss find relief with hearing aids or hearing amplification. Hearing aids can also be personalized to produce ear-level masking for those in need of the additional sound support. The tinnitus masking noise can be finely tuned to match your preference in a way that helps provide the most relief and can be turned on or off at your control.

Even if you don’t have hearing loss, tinnitus masking methods can be used in several ways to provide relief. Personalized tinnitus maskers can be used to produce white noise, environmental noise or similar sounds, almost like a radio. Specialized tinnitus masking devices can be purchased at Living Sounds Hearing Centre, or you can test drive one of the many free Apps for iPhone or Android designed to provide tinnitus masking tools.

Try out the Relax app, produced by Starkey Laboratories or call Living Sounds Hearing Centre at 1-833-559-4327 to book your appointment. You can also visit our website and reserve your appointment online here.