At one point my daughters and my wife sat me down and told me I had to get hearing aids because they couldn't deal with having to repeat everything they said to me more than once. I was pretty upset but eventually they convinced me and because I love them all I decided to try hearing aids. However, I had already lost directional hearing (which means I could no longer tell where a sound came from). So, then I tried hearing aids which is sort of a form of hallucination when you wear hearing aids. It's sort of like listening to someone speaking over loud speakers talking at a rock concert or something like this.
So, you are dealing with what I could call Sound hallucinations. Why? Because hearing aids are specifically designed so you can hear voices and make out what they are saying. However, all other sounds do not sound the same way at all. So, you are spending half the time trying to figure out what you are listening to while you are wearing hearing aids. So, it took me about a year or two to figure out what most noises were with hearing aids on. So, sometimes I needed to take the hearing aids out to figure out what i was actually listening to. Like sounds like Refrigerators and heating systems and air filters and all these kinds of things you cannot figure out what those sounds are easily usually.
But then I found that my tinnitus (ringing in the ears) didn't go away with the 1500 to 3000 dollar hearing aids. So, eventually I went to a hearing doctor who sold me some for 9000 dollars that are specifically designed to take away tinnitus. Because tinnitus is your brain (usually) wanting more sounds than it is presently getting so it makes this high pitched or other sounds because it wants more sounds. So, somehow you can get hearing aids where you don't have to listen to this while you are awake if you wear them because they finally get enough sounds so your brain is more happy and less upset that there isn't enough sounds
Here is more about tinnitus that I have found through AI and the Internet:
begin quotes:
- Sounds: Ringing, roaring, clicking, hissing, buzzing, humming, whistling, or pulsing.
- Characteristics: Can be soft or loud, high or low pitched, in one or both ears, constant or intermittent.
- Impact: Can interfere with concentration, work, and sleep, potentially leading to frustration or depression.
- Hearing Loss: Most common cause, often age-related (presbycusis) or noise-induced.
- Noise Exposure: Single loud events or prolonged loud noise damage inner ear hair cells.
- Ear Issues: Earwax buildup, infections, Meniere's disease, otosclerosis.
- Medical Conditions: High blood pressure, TMJ disorders, thyroid problems, diabetes, head/neck injuries.
- Medications: Certain drugs (antibiotics, aspirin) can cause it.
- Lifestyle: Alcohol, caffeine, smoking, stress, and anxiety can worsen it.
- Treat Underlying Cause: Removing earwax, antibiotics for infection, treating blood pressure.
- Sound Therapy: White noise machines, fans, hearing aids, or sound generators mask the noise.
- Hearing Aids: Provide external sound, reducing the brain's need to generate tinnitus.
- Counseling/Behavioral Therapy: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) help cope with the sound.
- Lifestyle: Reduce caffeine, alcohol, smoking; manage stress and anxiety.
- If tinnitus is persistent, bothersome, or pulsates with your heartbeat (objective tinnitus). An ENT doctor or audiologist can diagnose and recommend treatments.
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