Tinnitus is not new. But it might be the first time you have had to deal with it. A constant ringing or buzzing is normally how tinnitus is experienced but not always. At times, 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 manage your symptoms.
Fortunately, 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 therapies.
The Newest Way to Handle Tinnitus
Arguably the newest tinnitus treatment to hit our radar appears to offer a lot of promise, even if it appears a little strange initially. This device, designed at the Trinity College School of Medicine in Dublin, stimulates both the tongue and ear. Bi-modal neurostimulation is the technical term for this approach.
Based on the first tests of this device, the results were pretty striking. Most individuals underwent treatments for twelve weeks or so. Those same people noted a substantial decrease in their tinnitus symptoms, and the results lasted up to twelve months. But until the testing phase is complete it won’t be generally available.
What Can I do Now to Get Tinnitus Relief?
Unfortunately, it will probably be quite some time before novel therapies like this are widely accessible. So maybe you’re curious about what can be done now to help control your tinnitus.
Luckily, there are some newer tinnitus therapy devices on the market today. And one of the best new ways to manage tinnitus is something you’ve most likely already heard of: your hearing aid.
Here’s how it works:
Your hearing aid can provide you with something else to listen to. When you start to lose your hearing, external get quieter and that can make the internal sounds of tinnitus become louder. The volume of the outside world is raised by hearing aids. That doesn’t change the volume of your tinnitus, but it might make the ringing less obvious.
There is a noise masking device similar to a modern hearing aid. A masking device might be the way to go if your hearing loss is mild. A masking device essentially looks like a hearing aid. And most hearing aids can be augmented with masking technology. Your tinnitus symptoms can be obscured by sounds emitted by this type of technology. 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 just a starting point. We can demonstrate devices that work best for tinnitus. Contact us.