What is Ear Tinnitus? Tests, Treatments and Hearing Aids?

What is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus means the sounds that ring in ears. The other common sounds of tinnitus are whooshing, hissing, whistling, buzzing and humming. Tinnitus may not be cured but it has various relief options that may help you with your hearing issue.

How do you describe your tinnitus?

The first step of curing tinnitus is discovering what are the causes? One of the biggest challenges for tinnitus is finding out that it is tinnitus and not some outside sound. Then is the stage of evaluation and treatment option because everyone experiences it differently. You may face certain questions:

1. How long have you been hearing those sounds?
2. Does it happen in specific part of a day or is it continuous?
3. How loud is the noise?
4. It is bothering you to the point of mental breakdown or is just irritating?
5. Is it the same sound every time or does it changes?

Be prepared with that kind of answers and be honest so the relief treatment may work faster. Once your medical history is being checked, and your thorough inspection is done, there are some tests you have to pass.

Here are the tests:

There are few hearing tests that professionals may administer to get the better understanding:

1. A pitch test: This is the test where you will be told to identify the pitch of the ringing sound. You may want to be honest during this as this will help decide your treatment.
2. Loudness test: This is the level of sound you’re hearing. It is more common for people to experience soft sounds than louder ones.
3. Visual analogue test: This can be used to determine perceived loudness because the tinnitus is often perceived much louder than the decibel level that matches.

What are the treatments?

• If you feel you have become the victim of tinnitus, hearing aids help with the situation. Consult your hearing loss doctor and they will assist you with tinnitus relief treatment. Many hearing aids today even include tinnitus therapy features.
• Tinnitus masking or noise suppression are common treatment option. This type of device is worn in the ear like a hearing aid and produces either a constant signal or tonal beats to compete with the sounds you're hearing.
• You can use white noise generator as tinnitus gets worse in peaceful place. Thus, that could be a blessing as it could help you ignore the constant ringing sound.
• However, the best option is to consult a professional. Remember that you are not alone - tinnitus, while not well-understood, is common. Book an appointment with the hearing professional of Virginia.