The sensation of hearing noises in your ears or in your head is known as ‘tinnitus’.  Medicine loves giving ordinary things Latin names, and tinnitus is aptly Latin for “ringing”.

Around 18% of Australians suffer from tinnitus at some stage. Severe tinnitus can be debilitating.

Tinnitus can be caused by an inner ear disease such as Meniere’s, but the most common cause of tinnitus is exposure to loud sound.  You might not even remember the source of the sound – you only need to have one encounter with extreme sound to have caused enough damage to get tinnitus. Tinnitus can also be a sign of a serious medical issue, so it’s a good idea to tell your GP.  Most commonly, though, it is a sign of hearing damage.

The good news is good quality hearing aids help most people with tinnitus – hearing aids that don’t distort, and that sound comfortable.  But buyer be wary; hearing aids are not all the same, and price is not a very good guide anymore.

Hearing aids help people with tinnitus in several ways: firstly, if external sounds are more audible and comfortable, the tinnitus is less noticeable; secondly, they make communication easier so it takes the person less effort to listen, reducing stress and fatigue; thirdly, it makes communication easier by reducing the annoying sensation of sounds and voices being masked by unwelcome sounds.

There is another arguably more important reason to try good hearing aids: hearing loss reduces stimulation from external sounds to your hearing nerve pathway, and there is increasing scientific evidence that lack of adequate input may change the function of hearing auditory pathway structures. Receiving quality stimulation into the hearing system is extremely important.

So, the takeaway message is:

• Get a medical check if you experience tinnitus-like symptoms
• Try to give yourself a break from internal and external stress; tinnitus tends to be worse when you are physically or mentally run down
• Hearing aids will probably help tinnitus, whatever the cause
• If you are one of the few that hearing aids don’t help, book a tinnitus consultation with a good audiologist.  You are still likely to want the hearing aids, but there are additional recommendations.