If you have tinnitus, a hearing aid may help you, according to hearing specialists. Hearing aids may reduce the stress of bad hearing and offer sound therapy.

Hearing aids are likely to make you feel better about your tinnitus. According to hearing health specialists in the United States, six in 10 tinnitus patients report that they experience some degree of relief when wearing hearing aids, and a total of one in five (22 percent) receive major relief.

These were among the findings of a survey conducted by the Better Hearing Institute among 230 hearing specialists in North America.

Reduce stress

The researchers behind the survey mention two reasons why hearing aids may alleviate tinnitus.

First, tinnitus is almost always accompanied by hearing loss. People with untreated hearing loss often find communicating stressful. When using hearing aids, they increase their ability to communicate. This reduces their stress level, leaving them better able to cope with their tinnitus.

Sound therapy

Second, hearing aids may offer a kind of sound therapy. As the hearing aid amplifies background noise, the perceived noises of tinnitus become less prominent. Less than two percent of patients experience a worsening of their tinnitus when wearing hearing aids, while 39 percent receive no benefit.