For anyone suffering from tinnitus, it can be a lonely and frustrating experience. Tinnitus affects around 24 million Americans every year which means a large number of sufferers are having trouble sleeping and concentrating.
For anyone living with tinnitus, there are ways to help you deal with the symptoms. But do sleep headphones help Tinnitus?
Join us in our guide below, and discover the definitive answer.
For anyone suffering from Tinnitus, there is a range of ways to help you deal with the symptoms. Sleep headphones and noise-canceling headphones can help bring relief. Other ways are by using apps such as AudioCardio, relaxation techniques, hearing aids, sound generators, and counseling.
Do sleep headphones help tinnitus?
Ok, so that the short answer is in place. Before we head into more details, let’s start first by exploring exactly what Tinnitus is, so you can more easily understand if sleep headphones can help.
What is tinnitus?
For roughly 10% of the US population, clicking, roaring, whistling and ringing in the ears are some of the symptoms that tinnitus sufferers experience.
These debilitating sounds can be a range of volumes from super soft that can be hardly heard through to higher levels of sound disturbance that those who experience them have difficulty hearing anything else.
Tinnitus can be a constant companion which can make sufferers feel a range of challenging emotions such as anger, depression, and frustration.
So for those wondering whether sleep headphones can help tinnitus, read on to discover what actually causes it.
“These debilitating sounds can be a range of volumes”
What causes tinnitus?
Although as we’ve discovered Tinnitus is very common in the adult population of the US, there is very little hard and fast research as to exactly what causes it.
Some health care providers think it could be a part of your brain that processes sound abnormally may be the reason, but as yet, no one knows exactly why or unfortunately, how to prevent it.
So are there any conditions that might contribute to tinnitus?
Tinnitus is not often an isolated hearing problem and usually comes with other hearing loss problems or from environmental damage.
Many people with a range of types of hearing loss can suffer with the symptoms of tinnitus.
According to one study, those with Ménière’s disease suffer frequent bouts. The same study also concludes that the frequency of tinnitus relates to the severity of the hearing loss.
- Expose to loud noises or explosions, which can either be from an isolated incident or ongoing
- Age-related hearing loss in those over 65
- Over exposure to loud music or an extremely noisy working environment
- Patients who are prescribed Ototoxic medications. They are usually taken to combat cancer, heart disease, or serious infections
- Those who suffer from Ménière’s disease, which affects balance and hearing
“There is very little hard and fast research as to exactly what causes it.”
How do I manage tinnitus?
So if you don’t have an underlying medical condition many healthcare providers recommend a range of ways to help manage the impact of tinnitus.
- Hearing aids: as we’ve discovered often tinnitus comes hand in hand with other types of hearing loss. A hearing aid may provide relief by providing louder external noises which may help to lessen the invasion of tinnitus sounds.
- Environmental enrichment devices: These are available as tabletop sound machines which play nature sounds, recordings of music or other soothing sounds. They can be available in an App form, such as the AudioCardio app, which means they can be used easily on smartphones and tablets to lessen the debilitating noises of tinnitus.
- Relaxation techniques: The symptoms of Tinnitus can be extremely stressful as well as frustrating. When we are in a stressed state, tinnitus problems can become more noticeable so by learning to control stress with relaxation techniques it can help tinnitus be less noticeable. It also allows you to be better able to deal with the frustrations of tinnitus.
- Sound generators: Devices such as white noise machines can help to deliver restful soothing sounds which similar to hearing aids, help to mask the frustration of tinnitus sounds. Many of them deliver soft, gentle and soothing sounds such as a shower or rainfall. Some hearing aids also include sound generators.
- Counseling:There are many wellness therapies which also help tinnitus sufferers cope with the stresses of this illness, along with learning to pay less attention to the sounds. Cognitive-behavioral therapy or Acceptance and commitment therapy can help those suffering from tinnitus.
So what about sleep headphones and how can they help?
Why do sleep headphones help tinnitus?
Protecting your hearing is one of the best ways to avoid tinnitus. Sleep headphones can actually help with tinnitus, in the same way as many of the other ways we have mentioned above. They work mainly by canceling out the tinnitus by providing much more relaxing sounds such as ambient music, relaxation exercises and other types of musical therapy.
Listening via headphones or earbuds at low levels you can also reduce the chance of hearing problems worsening which may increase Tinnitus.
To listen safely to any kind of headphone including sleep headphones, it’s important to keep to a safe listening level.
Hearing experts suggest that the recommended volume levels should be around 60 and 85 decibels. This usually means no more than around 40 percent earbud or headphone volumes.
“They work mainly by canceling out the tinnitus by providing much more relaxing
sounds such as ambient music, relaxation exercises, and other types of musical therapy. “
How to use sleep headphones with tinnitus
The first thing to remember is that sleep headphones are not intended to be used all of the time.
They can help ease the symptoms of tinnitus by gently masking the unwanted noise interruption.
Turning up sleep headphones to a volume that completely masks the sound of tinnitus is not recommended as this could end up causing more serious hearing problems.
Do sleep headphones help tinnitus? Yes absolutely. But keep in mind that using sleep headphones should be a comfortable and safe experience and encourage sufferers to relax and feel calmer.
Sleep headphones earphones work best when used to give temporary relief from tinnitus, relax, or to focus on a task like studying or reading without interruption. They can be incorporated into your routine to help give relief from the symptoms of tinnitus.
“They can help ease the symptoms of tinnitus by
gently masking the unwanted noise interruption.”
And to finish on ... How else can I help my hearing?
So do sleep headphones help tinnitus? Well, along with sleep headphones a cutting edge technology which has been clinically proven called Threshold Sound Conditioning (TSC) can also help you with the symptoms of tinnitus.
The personalized sound therapies of AudioCardio™ can help not only to stimulate but also strengthen hearing.
Used for one hour every day, this new therapy assesses your hearing and detects the frequency that may have lost sensitivity, which can be caused by excess noise exposure and aging.
To create an account go to www.audiocardio.com and head to ‘start free trial’. Download the app from Apple App Store, or Google Play Store and enter promo code DRM10 to enjoy 2 WEEKS free.
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