Tinnitus and Hearing Aids: An Unexpected Solution

Can Hearing Aids Help With Tinnitus?

That persistent ringing, buzzing, or hissing in your ears has a name—tinnitus—and contrary to what you may have been told, there are effective ways to manage it. Dr. Paige Gainey reveals how modern hearing aids offer surprising relief for this common but frustrating condition.

Using a vivid analogy, Dr. Gainey explains tinnitus as a candle in a dark room that inevitably captures our attention. Hearing aids work by "turning on the lights" in your auditory world, allowing your brain to shift focus from that internal noise to the meaningful sounds around you. This simple yet profound change helps many patients experience significant tinnitus relief.

Today's hearing technology goes beyond basic amplification. Dr. Gainey discusses specialized tinnitus management features like masking sounds and fractal tones that never repeat in the same pattern—keeping your brain from settling into familiar tinnitus-focused pathways. She highlights how companion apps allow patients to customize their sound therapy with everything from ocean waves to cicada sounds, acknowledging that tinnitus is as unique as a fingerprint and requires personalized solutions.

Most importantly, Dr. Gainey dispels the harmful myth that nothing can be done about tinnitus. She introduces breakthrough technologies like Lenire that use bimodal neuromodulation to dramatically reduce tinnitus severity for many patients. The message is clear: you don't have to live with that constant internal soundtrack disrupting your life.

Ready to experience relief from tinnitus? Call Total Hearing Care at [phone] or visit TotalHearingCare.com to schedule your personalized assessment. Because when your brain can finally turn down the volume on tinnitus, you can turn up the joy in your daily life.

To learn more about Total Hearing Care visit:
https://www.TotalHearingCare.com

Total Hearing Care
Multiple Locations Across the DFW Metroplex
[phone]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference where we
help you experience lifethrough better hearing.
Hosted by the experts at TotalHearing Care, a leading private
audiology practice serving theDFW Metroplex, we're here to
provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus and the latest
advancements in audiology.
Transform your life throughbetter hearing.

(00:23):
Let's get started.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
If you ever notice a constant ringing, buzzing or
hissing sound in your ears thatno one else seems to hear,
you're not alone.
And there's good news Hearingaids might be a part of the
solution alone.
And there's good news hearingaids might be a part of the
solution.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm sophia yvette, co-hostslash producer, back in the
studio with dr paige gainey.
Dr gainey, how are you today?
I'm doing fantastic.
How are you, sophia?
I am also doing fantastic.

(00:59):
So, draney, can hearing aidshelp with tinnitus?

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Sophia, I get asked that question often, like how
could hearing aids help withtinnitus?
And the answer is absolutelyhearing aids can help with
tinnitus relief and they canhelp in more ways than one.
So I kind of like to thinkabout tinnitus as a candle in
the room right.

(01:27):
And so let's say, sophia, youand I are in a dark room and
we're looking at this candlemoving.
Our eyes are going to befocused on it.
That's what's happening withour brains.
Our brains are focused on thattinnitus or that ringing in your
ears.
And what happens if I turn onthe light in a room?

(01:47):
We're focusing on that candle,but it's not as apparent there.
So what hearing aids do is theyessentially turn on the light
of the auditory picture of yourears and in that sense it allows
the brain to stop focusing onthat tinnitus or that candle in

(02:11):
the room.
Does that make sense?

Speaker 2 (02:13):
It does.
So, Dr Ganey, I do have anotherquestion for you.
I have heard it pronounced bothways.
Is it tinnitus or is ittinnitus?

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Oh, I get asked this by patients all the time.
You know, dr Ganey, is ittinnitus or tinnitus, just like
you said, and it can be eitherway, kind of like tomato, tomato
.
So you can say it tinnitus ortinnitus, both are correct.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Perfect.
Well, thank you for clarifyingthat.
So, dr Gainey, what kinds ofsound therapy features do modern
hearing aids offer for tinnitusrelief?

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, so for tinnitus relief, hearing devices can
offer a couple different things.
They have something like atinnitus masker, different
sounds that can be produced inthe hearing aids themselves to
help keep the patient's brainfrom focusing on that chronic

(03:13):
tinnitus.
There's also sounds that arelike fractal sounds, so they're
tones that are never played inthe same rhythm or the same tone
.
So what it does is, as humanswe all like structure and our
brain has been structured tofocus in on that tinnitus.

(03:35):
So those fractal tones thatnever play in the same rhythm or
the same tone always keeps ourbrain guessing.
So what it does is it helps ourbrain not focus so much on that
tinnitus so it doesn't kind ofcarve a wheel.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Now, how do hearing aids amplify external sound to
help mask tinnitus?

Speaker 3 (03:59):
Yeah, so that goes back to kind of our auditory
picture.
So your ears, with hearing loss, aren't picking up as much
sound.
So what does it do?
It focuses on that internalsound, and what hearing aids do
is they say, oh wow, look at allof these other sounds I've been
missing, let's focus on those.

(04:22):
And so then your brain isallowing focus on the sounds
that are more important to you,like your grandchildren or birds
chirping.
So that's not focusing in onthat internal sound.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
So that's not focusing in on that internal
sound.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Can people with significant hearing loss still
benefit from hearing aids fortinnitus management?
Absolutely, 100%.
There's even apps that workwith hearing devices now that
the patients can choose whatsound works best for them.
For instance, my dad.
He has tinnitus significanttinnitus and he's able to use an
app that we have that workswith the hearing devices and

(05:04):
he's able to choose which soundshelp him most.
Sometimes patients choose oceanwave sounds, sometimes they
choose cicada sounds, and everypatient is different.
Sometimes people will choose,you know, kind of like a fan
motor sound.
Everybody's different.
Everybody's brain is kind oflike a thumbprint and their

(05:27):
experience with tinnitus isdifferent.
So that's why it's important tocome in see an audiologist to
see what might work for you anaudiologist to see what might
work for you.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Why does improving overall hearing clarity help
reduce the brain's focus ontinnitus?

Speaker 3 (05:45):
So whenever you're trying to reduce the focus on
tinnitus, what we're trying todo is bring the tinnitus from
here to back here, and that isessentially what hearing aids
can do.
They are going to help focus onother sounds in the environment

(06:05):
, and what that in turn does isput that internal sound of
tinnitus to the background.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
Are there certain kinds of hearing aid brands or
models that tend to work betterfor tinnitus relief?

Speaker 3 (06:19):
That's a great question and the answer to that
is absolutely.
That's one thing that'simportant and what I do at Total
Hearing Care is I make surethat my patients are able to
wear the hearing devices thehearing devices and we are able

(06:40):
to ask them questions afterwearing a week to see how their
tinnitus scores have decreasedover time to where their
tinnitus isn't as bothersome ornot bothersome at all.
So we gauge that and we look atdifferent tinnitus treatment
options for patients patientsLove it, Dr Ganey.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Before we go, are there any final words?

Speaker 3 (07:03):
you have to say today on tinnitus.
You know I want patients toknow because a lot of times they
hear from other people theirprimary care physicians,
internists that there's no curefor tinnitus, there's nothing
you can do about tinnitus, andthat is not true.
There are many different thingsyou can do for tinnitus and we
always want to explore thoseavenues with our patients that

(07:26):
will help.
There's a new device calledLanier out and it has worked
beautifully with so manypatients and Lanier uses bimodal
neuromodulation and we mightwant to talk about this in the
future, but patients have saidthat their tinnitus has had a

(07:46):
reduction in severitysignificantly and it's been one
of the best things to help ourpatients, as well as hearing
devices.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Well, love it, Dr Gainey.
We'll catch you in the nextepisode.
Have a fantastic rest of yourday.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Thank you, you too, sophia.

Speaker 1 (08:32):
Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing
Care Difference.
If you're in the DFW Metroplexand ready to take the next step
toward better hearing, call469-218-4853 to book an
appointment or visitTotalHearingCarecom, because
when you hear better, you livebetter.
See you next time.