Tinnitus maskers

• tinnitus maskers
  • are devices similar to hearing aids that are designed to produce white noise in an ear to mask the perception of tinnitus
  • the generated noise needs to be acceptable to the patient and, importantly, suitably different from the tinnitus to permit masking.
  • maskers may desensitise the patient to tinnitus over a period of time; habituation may eventually reduce the need for the masker
    • open or vented ear moulds are more acceptable than the closed type.
  • environmental masking relies on natural noises to distract the individual: this may take the form of soft music or television.
  • here sound therapy is used to reduce the effects of tinnitus in many ways: (1)
    • by partial masking
      • there is mixing of background sound with the tinnitus
      • patient still hears the tinnitus
    • by total masking
      • the background sound masks the tinnitus completely

Reference:

• (1) treatment options for tinnitus, Department of Otolaryngology at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics,USA.