Does Someone Here Use a Masker?

[Chelles]

I'm trying to gather information on maskers, whether they actually help and how does it work? If you have one what does it look like and was it worth it?

Thanks.

 

[MCB]

Chelles, depends on the type of masker you're looking for. Is it to be stationary or something you wear. I have both. I use a sound machine with a pillow speaker for sleep but also have a Widex with Zen hearing aid. If it wasn't for the fact that I got the hearing aid for free (insurance) I wouldn't have paid for it myself. My hearing is fine. The Zen consists of chimes that supposedly mask and help with habituation. It never worked for me. An alternative is using a set of earphones called AirDrives along with a masking program on your smartphone. AirDrives are designed differently than normal earphones in that the speaker does not fit directly in the ear canal as much as sits right in front of it. This way you're able to listen to your masking program (I listen to birds) as well as the environment around you. AirDrives are becoming harder to find since I first bought mine and the company may not be in business any longer but they are worth the few dollars they cost. Good luck.

 

[Marlene]

Chelles I've got 2 maskers ,I've had them 2 years ,to be honest they've not helped me one bit ,found them annoying if anything ,again it's down to each of us. What don't suit one ,suits another but always good to ask. Feedback to what we've tried and our take to various things ,see what others on site have to say then decide I say .
My maskers are what you place in ears ,and fit around the ears .Hospital gave me them ,so they were free to me ,I'm in UK .

 

[Nick the Swede]

I have been using maskers since october last year, couldn´t do without them. Even if i hear me T above the masker i feel some kind of strange comfort using them

 

[Markku]

I use sound enrichment almost 24/7, whenever possible.

But have never used in-ear maskers (i.e. white noise generators, etc.).

However, I do have Westone UM2s which I use for on-the-go music listening (at very moderate levels; I've never liked loud music).

Between songs, during the gap, it's insane how loud the tinnitus seems with IEMs (in-ear monitors). Unsurprisingly, of course...

What kind of maskers are you considering @Chelles?

Puretone, for example, has several different in-ear maskers:
http://www.puretoneretail.net/tinnitus.html

They can be quite discreet:

Something like this might be useful too:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hellobragi/the-dash-wireless-smart-in-ear-headphones

The Dash's con is the battery life: 3-4 hours.

The dedicated in-ear maskers like the Puretone have much longer battery life (but am not exactly sure how long?).