TINNITUS, HYPERACUSIS AND SOUND SENSITIVITIES
Toronto Tinnitus Treatment Clinic
There are many different ways to treat hearing loss. No two hearing losses are the same, which means that no two treatment options will be the same. During your consultation with the audiologist, we will often ask you about your lifestyle and your work. This is because you need to hear the best that you can in all your listening environments, and we want to make sure that we accomplish your best for you, in terms of hearing.
Tinnitus, also known as ringing in the ears, is the perception of noise or sounds in the ears, when no external sounds are actually present. Tinnitus is often referred to as ringing but it may also sound like buzzing, hissing, humming, wind noise, or a combination of these different sounds. It can occur in one or both ears and is extremely common and affects 1 in 5 individuals. Unfortunately, tinnitus in and of itself isn’t a condition but rather, it is a symptom of an underlying condition. Every person is unique when it comes to tinnitus treatment. Get in touch to see how personalized treatment can help you.
There are many causes of tinnitus. Hearing loss is probably the most common cause. Approximately 90% of individuals who suffer from some degree of hearing loss will report symptoms of tinnitus that they perceive as being heard in either one ear, both ears or in the middle of the head. Other common causes of tinnitus include: exposure to loud sounds, side effects to medications, existing or untreated medical condition(s), head or neck trauma/injuries, earwax blockage, general stress, anxiety or fatigue, unexplained circumstances.
Tinnitus is one of those symptoms that varies in the way that it impacts people. While some can easily ignore it, others can be severely debilitated by it. For those who suffer from hearing loss, tinnitus will typically be most prominent at the frequencies of the hearing loss. Interestingly, even though some individuals might perceive the tinnitus as being loud and may complain that it affects their ability to hear, generally, tinnitus tends to be slightly louder than the lowest levels of hearing that we can hear.
How is Tinnitus Diagnosed?
At AudioSense, our audiologist is certified with the Widex Zen Therapy Tinnitus Certification.
The assessment for tinnitus typically starts with filling out a case history questionnaire and another tinnitus-specific questionnaire. The latter allows us to understand more about your experience with tinnitus and where/when/how it is affecting you and your lifestyle. During our appointment together, we will also do a tinnitus matching test, where we seat you in the soundproof booth and we play several sounds that vary in their quality, intensity and frequency. We work together with you to try to replicate the sounds that you hear with your tinnitus. Based on the results of the questionnaires and this test, we are able to develop a rehabilitation plan for you.
How is Tinnitus Treated?
Unfortunately, currently, there is no cure for tinnitus. However, that doesn’t mean that there is nothing that we can do about it. In fact, there is a lot that we can do to help you with your tinnitus.
Typically, tinnitus rehabilitation will involve retraining and sound habituation exercises
This means that together, we figure out which specific sounds help you cope with your tinnitus and we teach you to use certain sounds to train your brain to habituate to the tinnitus.
At times, we may offer options for maskers, but in our experience, masking tinnitus is not the ideal route to deal with it, as we believe that you truly need to get your brain to understand that tinnitus is not threatening and you need to teach your brain to somehow ignore it. This takes time and work and we provide the sound tools to help you with this. Typically, the rehabilitation that we offer for tinnitus will involve some in-clinic appointments and homework for your to do at home. Tinnitus therapy does take a while, but the more motivated you are and the more your work at it, using our tools, then the more it will help you.
Hearing aids are also sometimes considered for tinnitus
Whether you have hearing loss or not, hearing aids that have specific features for tinnitus can be helpful.
In the case of hearing loss-induced-tinnitus, hearing aids help with both the hearing loss and the tinnitus. When there is no hearing loss, hearing aids are typically not our go-to solution, but they are sometimes warranted. We go over these options with you.
We also offer relaxation therapies for tinnitus
We know from the literature that tinnitus tends to be exacerbated by stress, anxiety and fatigue. Relaxation therapies have been shown to help. The therapy that we offer at AudioSense is based on healing practices from Sattva Yoga which include Pranayama, Kriyas and Layas relaxation and meditation therapies. These therapies are based on whole body healing practices that come from tantric traditions and are based on energy transference, deep breathing and muscle contractions, to help with relaxation of the body and the mind; both of which have been shown to help with tinnitus.
Hyperacusis and other sound sensitivities
Hyperacusis refer to a condition that is characterized by an increased sensitivity to loud sounds at certain frequencies. Hyperacusis is a condition that can occur gradually or can happen suddenly. We assess hyperacusis by measuring the loudness tolerance of certain sounds in a sound proof booth. Treatment for hyperacusis typically involves some sound/noise habituation therapies. Depending on the degree and type of hyperacusis you experience, the audiologist will typically develop a rehabilitation plan with you, which will often include some in-clinic visits as well as homework.
Misophona
Misophonia refers to a condition that is characterized by a fear of certain sounds, regardless of the volume of the particular sounds. Individuals who suffer from misophonia will sometimes describe that their bothersome sounds as irritating. These are most often everyday sounds, such as chewing, sniffling, lip smacking, and others. Similarly to hyperacusis, treatment for misophonia will involve some in-clinic visits with the audiologist and some homework, and the audiologist will typically develop a rehabilitation plan with you, which will depend on the particular sensitivities and sound irritations that are identified.