Tinnitus is not new. But it might be the first time you have had to deal with it. A relentless buzzing or ringing is normally how tinnitus manifests but not always. Sometimes, the sound is very intense. Symptoms differ substantially, but this is the point: if tinnitus is bothering you, you might be looking for some new ways to deal with your symptoms.
The good news is that new therapies and treatments are being formulated that aren’t cures for tinnitus but can help you manage it. Some of those therapies even concern your tongue.
Most Recent Approaches to Tinnitus
One of the latest treatment options for tinnitus sounds a bit odd at first but does appear to show some hope. This device, developed at the Trinity College School of Medicine in Dublin, stimulates both the tongue and ear. Technically, it’s called bi-modal neuromodulation.
The results were rather striking with this device according to the first tests. Most people underwent treatments for twelve weeks or so. Those same people noted a substantial reduction in their tinnitus symptoms, and the results continued for up to twelve months. But until the testing phase is completed it won’t be extensively available.
How Can I Get Tinnitus Relief Now?
Of course, it takes years for devices to go from research and development to patient accessibility. So how can you deal with your tinnitus right now?
Luckily, there are some newer tinnitus management devices available today. And the most prevalent way to handle your tinnitus is a modern hearing aid.
Here’s how it works:
Your hearing aid can give you something else to listen to. When you start losing your hearing, external diminish and that can make the internal sounds of tinnitus become louder. 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 could make the ringing less noticeable.
Your hearing aid can mask the sound. If your hearing loss is fairly minor, 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 incorporated into modern hearing aids. Your tinnitus symptoms can be obscured by sounds produced by this kind of technology. 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, only the beginning. We can show you devices that work best with tinnitus. Give us a call.