Suspecting that your hearing isn’t what it was in the past is hard to face. You’re likely worried about things getting worse as the ringing increases and what that means for being able to enjoy life. The good news is that an examination and treatment by a tinnitus doctor can help allay some of those worries while supplying you with the answers that you seek. Here are a few examples to consider.
Finding Out Why You Have Trouble Hearing Certain Sounds
There are those that think a hearing loss due to ringing in the ears means that you no longer hear any sounds as well as in the past. For many people, they may hear noises at certain levels without any problem, but they have trouble with sounds that are higher-pitched. This can be maddening, since some sounds are heard fine while others are not.
A doctor will conduct tests that provide insight into how the hearing loss is affecting your overall ability to hear. Those results lead to potential treatments that may reverse temporary losses, or help to identify other solutions that will help with permanent changes in your hearing.
Learning More About Treatment Options
While tinnitus can be caused by a number of ailments or events, there are treatments that can help to minimize the ringing. This is especially true when the underlying cause has not resulted in permanent damage to the ears. Some of them may produce results faster than you thought possible.
It may be that directly treating the cause will be enough to ease the ringing. Other patients may need a dual approach that tackles the cause of the ringing while also doing something to reduce it. With either of these strategies, there’s a good chance of no longer having to deal with ringing that keeps you awake or makes it difficult to carry on a conversation.
Dealing With Permanent Hearing Loss
In some cases, the issue is permanent hearing loss coupled with ringing in the ears. How can a patient cope with this type of situation? There may be a solution that would work well in your case.
Depending on the degree of hearing loss, hearing aids may help to amplify the remaining ability to hear while not causing the tinnitus to be any worse. It will still be there, but the
a tinnitus doctor can provide some ideas on how to adjust the aids so that you enjoy the greatest amount of audial clarity that’s possible.
Helping You Get Social Once Again
You’ve already begun to curtail participation at social events. The combination of the constant ringing and the hearing loss makes it impossible to distinguish different voices in a group conversation. That means you spend more time alone and avoid any events where people gather.
That’s not the way you have to live from now on. With the aid of the doctor and the recommended treatments, you can begin to reduce the ringing and find it easier to hear what others are saying. That will make going out to eat or attending a party a lot more fun.
Don’t assume you are destined to deal with severe ringing for the rest of your life. See a doctor and undergo a battery of tests. Whatever the outcome, there are treatments that will help you enjoy a better quality of life.