FYI: To learn more about our favorite hearing aids overall, check out our rundown of this year’s best hearing aids.
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If you notice a ringing noise in your ears that no one else seems to hear, then you may have tinnitus. An auditory and neurological condition affecting nearly 50 million Americans, tinnitus has no known cure. This chronic buzzing, hissing, and clicking in one’s ears is a small nuisance for most people. Usually it’s harmless, but you should remember to get it checked out by your physician if it started suddenly or is only present in one ear.
Even after tinnitus has been confirmed to be benign, it can be stressful and can cause more intense symptoms for some people. Those with debilitating tinnitus often suffer from a lack of sleep, in addition to anxiety and an inability to concentrate. Luckily, hearing aids can help mitigate the symptoms of tinnitus.
FYI: To learn more about our favorite hearing aids overall, check out our rundown of this year’s best hearing aids.
A hearing aid is an investment in better hearing and the ability to enjoy life more fully. With that said, these devices tend to run a pretty penny, so it’s important to choose one that covers all your needs. In choosing our favorite hearing aids for tinnitus, we looked for the following:
Cost: Enhance Select 100 hearing aids cost $1,595 for a pair or $52 per month through Jabra Enhance financing.
Jabra Enhance hearing aids are among our favorites due to their affordable pricing, ample support, and long-lasting batteries – not to mention the included three-year warranty. And while both of their hearing aid models have similar tinnitus features, our favorite would have to be the Enhance Select 100.
The Enhance Select 100’s smartphone app allows you to schedule telehealth calls with audiologists and adjust the sound settings on your hearing aids. Additionally, it features a dedicated “tinnitus manager.” This feature, when activated, allows you to set up varied sound therapies that can help drown out related symptoms. In our experience, many people living with tinnitus have found this feature helpful.
To learn more about Jabra Enhance’s hearing aids, check out our Jabra Enhance review.
Cost: Eargo 6 hearing aids cost $2,950 for a pair or $94 per month through Eargo financing.
With four different models to choose from, Eargo is one of the best hearing aid brands that sells directly to consumers. Their latest model, the Eargo 6, improves upon those prior with automatically adjusting sound profiles, longer-lasting rechargeable batteries, and IPX7
water resistance. Costing under $100 per month when financed, Eargo 6 prices are also competitive.
While Eargo hearing aids do not offer an app or dedicated tinnitus-related feature, they are still one of our favorites, as many people who use them report a reduction in tinnitus symptoms. Additionally, with the included lifetime support from Eargo hearing health professionals, you can fine-tune your hearing aids to suit your particular type of hearing loss.
To learn more about each of Eargo’s models, check out our Eargo hearing aid review.
Cost: Signia Silk X hearing aids cost $1,500-$2,500 for a pair.
Signia hearing aids provide a variety of gentle static background or ocean wave sounds to help soothe and mask your tinnitus. In addition to these more common treatment strategies, Signia also offers something called notch therapy. If you have tonal tinnitus (which sounds like one particular tone/frequency), sometimes amplifying that frequency can make it worse rather than better. Notch therapy provides amplification appropriate for your hearing loss across all the frequencies except the location of the tinnitus. Rather than distracting from the sound or masking the sound, notch therapy works to help the brain ignore the sounds so that they fade further and further into the background.
Tinnitus therapy is included with most Signia models. These range from in-the-ear models to modern behind-the-ear models. A hearing health care provider will be able to advise you on which model is best for your unique hearing situation and can double-check that the model you choose includes tinnitus therapy.
With the combination of their one-of-a-kind notch tinnitus therapy and static masking noise available on a wide range of hearing aid devices, Signia is one of the best choices for people dealing with tinnitus.
Cost: Phonak Audeo Paradise hearing aids cost $3,000-$6,000 for a pair.
Phonak places a strong emphasis on a rich, clear sound that lets you go about your daily life naturally and easily. Although Phonak only offers a few options of broadband-type masking noise, the real benefit of Phonak is the ability to stream sound continuously from any type of phone.
Phonak hearing aids use a broadband sound generator to transmit sounds that provide masking for your tinnitus. When using Bluetooth-compatible aids, Phonak also provides an app that allows you to control when the masking noise streams directly to your hearing aids. It can also be used to stream music from your personal playlists or as a sleep timer to help you fall asleep despite tinnitus sounds.
Phonak has three models that include tinnitus relief: Bolero, Audéo, and Virto. The Bolero and Audéo models are RIC and BTEs that provide Bluetooth compatibility for all iPhone and Android phones. The Virto is a custom in the ear aid, and it’s best to check with your provider if a set custom made for you can be wireless.
Phonak models fit comfortably, deliver crisp sound performance, and provide relief from the effects of tinnitus, making them a solid option for those suffering from constant ringing in their ears. This is especially effective if you enjoy streaming music or audiobooks to soothe your tinnitus.
Cost: Widex Moment hearing aids cost $3,000-$6,000 for a pair.
Widex creates hearing aids designed to give clear sound in every situation. They can also relieve the effects of tinnitus through their proprietary Zen therapy technology.
Widex created Zen therapy to help manage this ailment. Zen therapy uses fractal tones to help mask tinnitus. Although music can help with tinnitus, some people can eventually habituate and begin to hear the tinnitus again. Because fractal tones are semi-random, you never habituate to them. Fractal tones sound a bit like chimes, and there are different pitches and rhythms to choose from. Widex is the only manufacturer to offer fractal tone therapy for tinnitus.
Zen therapy is a research-proven therapy for individuals with tinnitus. It’s worth talking to a hearing health care provider about how it can work for you, especially if white noise and regular music haven’t been very helpful in the past.
There is no single cause for tinnitus, and while it can be bothersome, it is usually completely harmless. It can be a symptom of an underlying condition, most commonly, age-related hearing loss. However, it can be aggravated by substances like caffeine and some medications.
In rare cases, tinnitus can be linked to cardiovascular conditions, like high blood pressure, a small tumor called an acoustic neuroma, or head or neck injuries. If you have bothersome tinnitus that starts suddenly and is constant –– or is only present in one ear –– it’s best to get it checked out by your doctor.
Did You Know: Tinnitus can occur in one or both ears. Additionally, its noises may be present all the time, or they may come and go in a seemingly random fashion.
Just as there’s no one cause for tinnitus, there’s no definitive cure, especially if the cause is hearing loss. Some people get complete relief by wearing hearing aids to treat hearing loss. However, if that doesn’t help, many people find they can get some relief using a combination of talk therapy, relaxation techniques, and deliberately using background noise to distract them from the sounds. Using a variety of techniques can decrease the awareness of tinnitus in everyday life and make it easier and less bothersome to live with.
To understand the link between hearing loss and tinnitus, let’s talk for a minute about the hearing process. We hear because sound travels into our ears, and our auditory nerves take those signals to our brains. The brain’s job is to put together all this acoustic information and make sense of what we’re hearing.
Our ears don’t select what we hear; rather, they hear everything, so our brains are tasked with filtering out unnecessary noises and background sounds, preventing us from getting overwhelmed by the many noises at any given moment. In cases of hearing loss (or other changes in the hearing system, such as an infection), our brains don’t get the same amount of information from our ears. One theory is that when our brains try to get more information and fill in the gaps, it can result in tinnitus.
If your tinnitus is directly related to hearing loss, simply restoring your hearing by using a hearing aid can help lessen the symptoms.
On top of this, some hearing aid manufacturers have taken things one step further and developed specific tinnitus-related features to help mask out the sounds and make the condition more manageable.
Tinnitus can be frustrating. Luckily, if it accompanies hearing loss, hearing aids can help manage it. If you suffer from hearing loss and are worried about tinnitus symptoms, we’d highly recommend booking an appointment with a hearing health care provider to see how their tinnitus-specific features can help you.
To learn more about hearing aids and health, be sure to check out our helpful guides:
In rare instances, amplifying the frequencies can make tinnitus more noticeable to you instead of less. If your primary hearing complaint is tinnitus, it’s a good idea to look for a provider who specializes in the ailment and can help with tinnitus-specific counseling and programming.
While there is no outright cure, just using hearing aids can sometimes provide enough sound input to make tinnitus imperceptible while wearing hearing aids. If this isn’t the case for you, certain types of hearing aids can also use noise patterns (ocean sounds, white noise, etc.) in order to mask its symptoms. So while the noise won’t technically be eliminated completely, it will become easier to ignore.
The types of noises, their frequency, and loudness will vary from person to person, depending on the root cause of your tinnitus. With that said, variables like stress, caffeine, level of blood pressure, and alcohol can all exacerbate tinnitus symptoms, regardless of the root cause.
