Tinnitus is not new. But perhaps it’s new to you, like a noisy used car you can’t return. Normally, though not always, tinnitus presents as an incessant buzzing or ringing in the ears. Often, the sound is really intense. However tinnitus manifests for you, this point is probably true: you are probably looking for new ways of managing your tinnitus if it’s something that’s bothering you.
In that, you’re in luck because while tinnitus doesn’t yet have a universal cure, there are a few new treatments that can help you manage symptoms. Some of those therapies even involve your tongue.
Most Recent Approaches to Tinnitus
One of the most recent therapies for tinnitus sounds somewhat unusual at first but does seem to show some hope. This device, developed at the Trinity College School of Medicine in Dublin, stimulates both the tongue and ear. The technical term is bi-modal neuromodulation.
Based on the first tests of this device, the results were rather optimistic. 12 weeks was about the duration that most people were treated. Over those 12 months, those same people noted a dramatic decrease in tinnitus symptoms. But this kind of therapy is still in the testing phase and not extensively available yet.
What Can I do Now to Get Tinnitus Relief?
Of course, it takes years for devices to work their way from research and development to patient availability. So maybe you’re wondering what you can do now to help deal with your tinnitus.
Luckily, there are some newer tinnitus therapy devices available now. And one of the best new methods of managing tinnitus is something you’ve most likely 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 apparent as your hearing wanes is that the stays loud while everything else becomes quieter. A hearing aid can boost the volume on the rest of the audio spectrum. That doesn’t change the volume of your tinnitus, but it might make the ringing less noticeable.
There is a sound masking device similar to a modern hearing aid. If your hearing loss is relatively minor, then a masking device may be the best way to deal with your symptoms. A hearing aid has a similar appearance to a masking device. And masking technology can be integrated into modern hearing aids. This technology can emit sounds designed to mask your tinnitus symptoms. Whatever the best sound is to mask the ringing in your ears will be used, from white noise to a specific tone.
This is, naturally, just the beginning. We can show you devices that work best for tinnitus. Give us a call.