Tinnitus has been present for a long time. But maybe it’s new to you, like a noisy used car you can’t return. A relentless buzzing or ringing is normally how tinnitus manifests but not always. The sound can be, at times, extremely loud. Symptoms vary considerably, but here’s the point: you are most likely looking for new ways of coping with your tinnitus if it’s something that’s bothering you.
The good news is that new therapies and treatment options are being developed that aren’t cures for tinnitus but can help you deal with it. Your tongue is even involved in some of those treatments.
The Newest Way to Handle Tinnitus
Arguably the newest tinnitus treatment to hit our radar appears to offer quite a bit of potential, even if it appears a little odd at first. Both the tongue and the ear are stimulated with this device designed at the Trinity School of Medicine in Dublin. Bi-modal neurostimulation is the technical term for this approach.
The results were fairly striking with this device according to the first tests. Most people received treatments for a duration of twelve weeks or so. Over those 12 months, those same individuals noticed a dramatic reduction in tinnitus symptoms. But this kind of therapy is still in testing and not widely available yet.
What Can I do Now to Find Tinnitus Relief?
Regrettably, it will most likely be quite some time before novel treatments such as this are widely accessible. So maybe you’re curious about what you can do now to help control your tinnitus.
There are, luckily, some tinnitus therapy devices that has recently come onto the market. And one of the best new methods of managing tinnitus is something you’ve most likely already heard of: your hearing aid.
Here’s how it works:
Everyday sounds are boosted by hearing aids. One reason why tinnitus becomes more obvious as your hearing wanes is that the ringing is the only thing that stays loud while everything else becomes quieter. 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 disappear into the background.
Your hearing aid can mask the noise. If your hearing loss is relatively mild, then a masking device may be the best way to address your symptoms. A masking device basically looks like a hearing aid. And most hearing aids can be augmented with masking technology. Your tinnitus symptoms can be masked by sounds emitted by this type of technology. Sometimes this will be a tone, in other situations, it might be some white noise. Whatever is going to best hide the ringing in your ears.
Of course, this is just a starting point. We can help you choose the best option for you so get in touch with us.