Doctor’s Advice: When Do Maskers Not Work for Tinnitus?

Masking is one of the most relied upon methods to manage tinnitus. Many times this tinnitus remedy is effective, but sometimes it’s not. Just when do maskers not work for tinnitus?

Generally, a huge population of tinnitus sufferers can take the advantage of wearing maskers. That’s because majority of people with tinnitus only suffer from it to a mild or moderate degree. Simple masking is enough to cover the noise heard inside the ears in these cases. Severe cases of tinnitus may not respond to plain masking. There are also cases of tinnitus that are not well alleviated by pure masking.

When tinnitus ringing in the ears is associated with hearing loss, masking alone will not work satisfactorily. Audiologists prescribe hearing aids in this case. In some cases, a special device that combines a hearing aid and masker is used. Audiologists generally assess the type of tinnitus a patient is suffering from before fitting a masking device. The broadband noise emitted by the masker should be adjusted to match the loudness and pitch of tinnitus perceived.