Tinnitus Maskers

Tinnitus maskers, also known as white noise generators, are devices that produce sounds that "mask," or cover up, the tinnitus. Tinnitus maskers are small electronic instrument built into a post-auricular (behind-the-ear) hearing aid case. In fact most maskers look exactly like hearing aids. The masking sounds acts as a distracter since this external sound is usually more tolerable than the ear ringing sounds. Tinnitus maskers are commonly used by tinnitus sufferers when trying to sleep as it is within these quiet environments when the tinnitus is at its most noticeable. They commonly take the form of CD or MP3 recordings, or bedside noise generators.

Before investing in such a device, it is recommended visiting an ear clinic or other medical institution so that an attempt is made to identify the frequency (pitch) of the tinnitus. The medical institution will then recommended a tinnitus masker which produces a noise matching this frequency as closely as possible. Some maskers are made available on a rental basis so that the individual can determine whether or not it will be effective in masking the head noise.

Tinnitus maskers use soothing natural sounds such as ocean surf, rainfall or synthetic sounds such as white noise, pink noise, brown noise to help the auditory system to become less sensitive to tinnitus, and promote relaxation by reducing the contrast between tinnitus sounds and background sound. Some more advanced tinnitus maskers use a combination of natural and synthetic sounds tailored to mask the specific frequencies at which the tinnitus signal is experienced.

Tinnitus maskers only try to make the sounds produced by tinnitus less noticeable, they do not in any way make the condition go away or cure the underlying problem. Although such devices can prove to be very successful in the management of tinnitus, constant exposure to noise 24 hours a day may not be the healthiest option for your ears. Therefore it is best to use these devices intermittently or at set times during the day or night.