Tinnitus is not new. But it might be the first time you have had to cope with it. A relentless ringing or buzzing is commonly how tinnitus is experienced but not always. The sound can be, at times, really loud. Regardless of how tinnitus manifests for you, this point is probably true: you are probably searching for new ways of handling your tinnitus if it’s something that’s bothering you.
In that, you’re in luck because while tinnitus does not yet have a universal cure, there are a few novel treatments that can help you deal with symptoms. Certain of those therapies even involve your tongue.
Newest Approaches to Tinnitus
One of the most recent treatments for tinnitus sounds a little weird at first but does seem to show some promise. This device, developed at the Trinity College School of Medicine in Dublin, stimulates both the ear and the tongue. The technical term is bi-modal neuromodulation.
The results were rather impressive with this device based on the first tests. 12 weeks was about the duration that most people were treated. Over those 12 months, those same individuals noticed a dramatic decrease in tinnitus symptoms. But this type of therapy is still in testing and not widely available yet.
How Can I Find Tinnitus Relief Now?
Unfortunately, it will probably be quite a while before novel therapies such as this are generally available. So how can you deal with your tinnitus now?
There are, luckily, some tinnitus management technology that has recently come onto the market. And the most common way to handle your tinnitus is a modern hearing aid.
Here’s the way it works:
Your hearing aid can provide you with something else to listen to. When you begin losing your hearing, the sounds of the outside world get quieter and that can make the internal sounds of tinnitus become louder. A hearing aid can raise the volume on the rest of the audio spectrum. By increasing the volume of outside sounds, your tinnitus sounds will often vanish into the background.
There is a noise masking device similar to a modern hearing aid. If your hearing loss is fairly mild, then a masking device might be the best way to treat your symptoms. A masking device essentially looks like a hearing aid. And some hearing aids can be enhanced with masking technology. Your tinnitus symptoms can be masked by sounds emitted by this kind of technology. At times this will be a tone, in other situations, it may be some white noise. Whatever will best hide the humming in your ears.
Of course, this is just a starting point. We can demonstrate devices that work best for tinnitus. Give us a call.