Tinnitus is nothing new. But it might be the first time you have had to deal with it. A relentless ringing or buzzing is usually how tinnitus manifests but not always. At times, the sound is quite overwhelming. Regardless of how tinnitus manifests for you, this point is most likely true: you are most likely looking for new ways of handling 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 manage it. Your tongue is even involved in some of those treatments.
Most Recent Approaches to Tinnitus
One of the latest therapies for tinnitus sounds a little odd at first but does appear 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 striking with this device according to the first tests. Most individuals underwent treatments for a duration of twelve weeks or so. Within those 12 months, those same people observed a dramatic decrease in tinnitus symptoms. But this type of therapy is still in the testing phase and not extensively available yet.
How Can I Get Tinnitus Relief Now?
Regrettably, it will probably be quite a while before novel therapies such as this are generally accessible. So maybe you’re curious about what can be done now to help deal with your tinnitus.
There are, fortunately, some tinnitus therapy technology that has recently come onto the market. And one of the best new ways to manage tinnitus is something you’ve probably already heard of: your hearing aid.
It works like this:
Your hearing aid can provide you with something else to listen to. One reason why tinnitus is more obvious as you lose your hearing is that the stays loud while everything else gets quieter. A hearing aid can boost the volume on the rest of the audio spectrum. By boosting the volume of external 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 relatively moderate, then a masking device might be the best way to treat your symptoms. A masking device essentially looks like a hearing aid. And masking technology can be combined with modern hearing aids. Your tinnitus symptoms can be masked by sounds produced by this kind of technology. Whatever sound will best mask the ringing in your ears will be used, it may be a specific tone or even white noise.
Of course, this is just a starting point. We can help you discover the best option for you so call us for a consultation.