Tinnitus is not new. But maybe it’s new to you, like a loud used car you can’t return. Normally, though not always, tinnitus presents as a ceaseless buzzing or ringing in the ears. Sometimes, the sound is quite overwhelming. Symptoms differ substantially, but this is the point: if tinnitus is bothering you, you may be searching for some new ways to deal with your symptoms.
Fortunately, new therapies and treatment options are being formulated that aren’t cures for tinnitus but can help you deal with it. Certain of those therapies even concern your tongue.
The Newest Way to Handle Tinnitus
Perhaps the newest tinnitus treatment that we’ve seen appears to offer a lot of potential, even if it appears a little strange initially. 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 technique.
Based on the first tests of this device, the results were rather impressive. Most people received treatments for a duration of twelve weeks or so. Those same people detected a significant decrease in their tinnitus symptoms, and the results lasted up to twelve months. But until the testing phase is finished it won’t be publicly available.
What Can I do Now to Get Tinnitus Relief?
Naturally, it takes a while for technology to work their way from research and development to patient availability. So perhaps you’re wondering what can be done now to help control your tinnitus.
Fortunately, there are some newer tinnitus therapy devices available today. And the most prevalent way to deal with your tinnitus is a modern hearing aid.
Here’s how it works:
Your hearing aid can provide you with something else to listen to. One reason why tinnitus becomes more apparent as you lose your hearing is that the stays loud while everything else gets quieter. The volume of the outside world is boosted by hearing aids. By raising the volume of external sounds, your tinnitus sounds will often fade into the background.
Your hearing aid can mask the sound. If your hearing loss is fairly moderate, then a masking device may be the best way to address your symptoms. A masking device essentially looks like a hearing aid. And many hearing aids can be augmented with masking technology. This technology will produce sounds specially designed to mask your tinnitus symptoms. Whatever the best sound is to mask the ringing in your ears will be used, it may be a specific tone or even white noise.
Needless to say, this is only a starting point. We can demonstrate devices that work best for tinnitus. Contact us.