This month makes 1 full year of using hearing aids daily. I went in to audiology for obstreperous and constant tinnitus levels that kept me awake and caused strongly reduced hearing. Then, after testing for hearing loss last April during that visit, I was told the severity of tinnitus might reduce over time by wearing hearing aids every day. Since between insurance and the state department for the blind and visually impaired, they paid for the aids, giving them a try seemed innocuous. Well, the hearing aids have helped my ability to hear greatly. Still a year later it is like night and day between wearing them or not. However, the level of tinnitus remains as it was, pertinaciously truculent!
Taken from my original post a year ago:
If you want to hear what I hear every second of every day and night when I am not sleeping, go to this site.
https://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/
Scroll down to the sound bar. Set your computer volume to about 30%. Set the sound bar volume to 15.67%. Slide the frequency tab on the left to 5380 Hz. Select the Triangle mode, and then hit Play. That is the base level. If I have a flair up of symptoms, the volume increases a lot until the flair up subsides.
The hearing aids do cover up the tinnitus, and when I’m in very quiet places (which I normally am), the aids have many settings to use in order to block out the horrendous screaming of tinnitus. Though at night when I take the aids out for bed, the tinnitus returns instantly. With an air purifier in the bedroom, its fan, combined with not having to deal with the tinnitus all day due to the hearing aids, allows me to sleep, luckily.
Disappointing that the tinnitus hasn’t decreased any in the past year of wearing hearing aids. It was a hope, but I suppose like so many hopes, most never pan out.
When I knew I was dealing with hearing loss I began learning sign language. I managed to learn the alphabet and some regular communication signs before I realized I was starting in on vision loss also. Rather than being incredulous to the situation, I switched gears and figured I’d start learning brail instead. No matter the strength of my volition, my heavily used and partly numb fingertips couldn’t feel the tiny brail dots. It seemed futile to continue learning sign language, especially since the hearing is correctable with heating aids and the vision loss isn’t. Ironic that I find sign language easy and brail impossible. The absurdity and satire of events attached to chronic illnesses apparently knows no bounds.