Tinnitus Masking: In-Ear Maskers

[aapeli]

I've been looking for a white noise generator that i could put in my ear(s) and found this site (it's a British company):

http://www.puretoneretail.net/tinnitus.html

VERY EXPENSIVE, are these worth the expense? Anybody have any experience with these little devices?

 

[Markku]

From what I can see those in ear WNGs look professional and functional, but I don't have any first hand (or second hand for that matter) experience or expert knowledge.

One plus side with those is that there is no cord. If you need white noise generators that are cordless and in your ear, then I think these look good. Otherwise, depending on the usage scenario, In Ear Monitors (Shure, Etymotic, Westone, Sennheiser etc) + an mp3 player would probably be good and you could even choose your own masking track to fit different situations.

If I were you I would do a bit of googling and try and find if someone has posted a review or something somewhere.

I personally dislike white noise (I think it's too harsh) and prefer a lot more nature sounds (like the one Jim provided here on Tinnitus Talk), but you probably like it if you are considering those?

I wouldn't be surprised if someone here had more knowledge about WNGs than I do, so lets wait and see..

 

[Crosstyx]

I've been looking for a white noise generator that i could put in my ear(s) and found this site (it's a British company):

http://www.puretoneretail.net/tinnitus.html

VERY EXPENSIVE, are these worth the expense? Anybody have any experience with these little devices?

Hi there. Yes, I have used one of these devices but found them to be rather annoying. Maybe I am just so used to the noises in my head!

 

[Svein]

I would try some cheap bluetooth headphones first, and play white noise on my phone or iPod. I also like nature sounds better than white or pink sound.

 

[Shelley]

Has anyone bought their own in ear/ outer ear white noise generators?
I was thinking about getting some and attempting my own at home, TRT.
Just wondering if anyone else has given this a go? Or what noise generators are best?

 

[Karl]

Shelley -
I wear General Hearing Tranquil OTE maskers. They generate a hissing white noise. The advantage of a masker over an IPod is, the maskers don't have ear buds; instead maskers have these little tubes which allow you to hear other things. Maskers are very small and are not noticeable, unless you are really looking for these little tubes.

Like you, I don't hear the white noise - at least not today! I have a love-hate relationship with these things. Today I started wearing them again, after 2 months without wearing them. Seems that I wear them for 2 months, then I stop wearing them for 2 months,.....back and forth. This has become a cycle.

I was bummed out this weekend about my tinnitus. Sometimes I get so focused on my tinnitus and how to fix it, I just give up. Today the masker seem to be helping my attitude.

Yes, I have heard that pink noise is the best.

 

[Markku]

Shelley -
I wear General Hearing Tranquil OTE maskers. They generate a hissing white noise. The advantage of a masker over an IPod is, the maskers don't have ear buds; instead maskers have these little tubes which allow you to hear other things. Maskers are very small and are not noticeable, unless you are really looking for these little tubes.

Like you, I don't hear the white noise - at least not today! I have a love-hate relationship with these things. Today I started wearing them again, after 2 months without wearing them. Seems that I wear them for 2 months, then I stop wearing them for 2 months,.....back and forth. This has become a cycle.

I was bummed out this weekend about my tinnitus. Sometimes I get so focused on my tinnitus and how to fix it, I just give up. Today the masker seem to be helping my attitude.

Yes, I have heard that pink noise is the best.

Are the Tranquil OTEs really this expensive? $1300?

http://www.rockandrollhearingtech.com/product_detail.php?pid=39&cat=4

They do look good though:

http://generalhearing.com/tinnitus/products/tranquil-simplicity-ote.html

...and unnoticeable!

 

[Karl]

Markku -
Yes, they're expensive: $900 per ear. I'm not sure if there are cheaper maskers.

 

[erik]

The cheapest maskers I know of are made by PureTone in the UK. Not sure how good they are but they are much cheaper than other makers. They do ship worldwide.

 

[Shelley]

Thanks Erik is that the Audimed ones? I'm looking at them now.
The only issue I can see with them is the lowest they all go down to is 50 decibels, which seems quite loud to me?
I only really want it very quietly in the background.

 

[Karl]

Erik -
Good find. These Pure Tone "Behind The Ear" maskers look a lot like what I use. Could save a lot of money with this brand.

Shelley-
I didn't read "50 db minimum", but I only skimmed the adverstisement. I can turn my maskers down as low as possible. Not sure why Pure Tone would have a minimum. Is 50 db a maximum?

The "Behind The Ear" is the best, in my opinion. Discreet, won't block the whole ear.

 

[Shelley]

Hi Karl,
on the right hand side of each item theres a little drop down menu which say what db they go to, each one seems to have three settings, 50db, 60db or 70bd however one I saw went up to 95!
I looked at the Tranquil make as well which start at 0db, are they the ones you have? I would prefer to get some of those, however they are a lot more expensive and I live in the UK and not sure if I can get a hold of them here.
It would be a much cheaper option but I don't know if I would like only having the three settings.

 

[Karl]

Shelley -
Yeah, it's probably not a good idea to use maskers that are so loud you'll go deaf!

I agree that my Tranquil maskers seem to be too expensive. They go down to 0 db, which I never considered to be such a big deal. Gee, I never realized that I have the "Mercedes Benz" of maskers!

Strange that the Pure Tone has a loudness limitation. If you can try them out, that may be the best thing. Could it be that what you saw as "50 db, 60 db...." are only markers for a variable slider, not fixed settings?

We need William Shatner - Mr. "Priceline.Com" - to find the cheapest maskers.

 

[just1morething]

I did not no if this subject was brought up before, so I thought it might be worth discussing. I do not need hearing aids for hearing, and the ReSound Alera that I am trying has a masker that sounds almost like my tinnitus, a hissing sound.

Someone on another forum uses maskers instead of hearing aids and I was considering going that route. I know that there are White Noise Generators (WNG) that some people use to mask their tinnitus, but I have never seen one.

Apple's iPod is bluetooth capable as well as their nano. I am sure Samsung has bluetooth also. The sound quality of my hearing aid bluetooth is poor.

Has anyone had experience with using a WNG, or a bluetooth device for your white noise? Is the sound quality as good with bluetooth as with wired earphones?

 

[Markku]

I did not no if this subject was brought up before, so I thought it might be worth discussing. I do not need hearing aids for hearing, and the ReSound Alera that I am trying has a masker that sounds almost like my tinnitus, a hissing sound.

Someone on another forum uses maskers instead of hearing aids and I was considering going that route. I know that there are White Noise Generators (WNG) that some people use to mask their tinnitus, but I have never seen one.

Apple's iPod is bluetooth capable as well as their nano. I am sure Samsung has bluetooth also. The sound quality of my hearing aid bluetooth is poor.

Has anyone had experience with using a WNG or a bluetooth device for your white noise?

Puretone has some nice and discreet-looking white noise generators: http://www.puretoneretail.net/tinnitus.html

See those MM* products down the page, e.g. http://www.puretoneretail.net/mm10.html

They also make custom made WNGs (from an exact impression of your ear), more here: http://www.puretone.net/pt_custom_tinnitus.html

They are UK-based however, so I don't know about the availability in the US... but I would assume there are similar devices being sold in the US?

If you like the sound of white noise, I think this type of masker could work well for you.

 

[just1morething]

Thanks Markku,

What do you think of a bluetooth headset or earphones? They would not be as discreet, but you could play a wide variety of sounds.

Are there behind the ear WNG in the U.S.?

 

[Markku]

Thanks Markku,

What do you think of a bluetooth headset or earphones? They would not be as discreet, but you could play a wide variety of sounds.

Something like this?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/H9763VC/A/jaybird-freedom-sprint-bluetooth-headphones?fnode=49

Pair those with your iPod and you can enjoy all sorts of masking tracks.

For everyday use I think the Puretone type dedicated white noise generators are in some cases better; no fiddling with bluetooth and no wires of any sort (with the above bluetooth headphones the two earphones are connected to each other via a wire).
That is, if one likes white noise - I find it harsh and would not like to listen to it for hours on end.

Bluetooth headphones may be the best choice for you.

 

[Relic Hunter]

I sleep with a fan running and a sound machine..As for maskers I use a pair of hearing aid style manufactured by GENERAL HEARING. These have only a volume control and produce a white noise similar to bacon frying. I do not know the cost of these as they were supplied by the Vets. Ad.

These hearing aid style maskers have been a life saver on the bad days. I sometimes even wear them to bed but they are not recommended for such..I was advised to always keep the volume of the maskers lower than the T. as the tinnitus will try to outdo the maskers.

 

[Neenie]

Hi all.
I've heard that you can get maskers for your tinnitus that look like hearing aids. Do any of you know what they look like? Are they basically just white noise generators? Is there a website that shows or describes these? I did ask my audiologist a while back and she brushed it off and said, oh dont worry about that. Yer thanks. You try and life a day in my shoes and then tell me again not to worry about that.

 

[Relic Hunter]

I have a pair provided by the VA so I have no idea of cost..White noise which sounds sort of like bacon frying..Simple volume control on the aid..Fit behind the ear and have a tube that goes into the ear canel. Different lengths of the sound tube are available to allow a custom fit. These are not custom fitted as in molding to fit your ear canel.. Uses small size hearing aid style batteries.

I believe these can be custom programed as to noise freq. They have a style that is more adaptable to long term wear such as while sleeping. I would prefer this style if I were buying them. Mine are not recommended to wear while sleeping but I do sometimes. They have proved to very durable as I have forgotten and taken a shower with them in and got them soaked..Let them air dry for awhile and ready to go again.

My VA audiologist said to always keep the volume of the masker lower than the tinnitus as the tinnitus will try to override the masker and the T will only become louder..

Made by GENERAL HEARING, Instruments,Inc.

They are on the web but I do not have their address at present.

 

[Neenie]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/1387665247/Perfect_8_Channel_Tinnitus_Masker_Hearing.html
how about this one? Yer, i tend to try to mask out the tinnitus as much as possible which im not sure if thats the best. because surely you cant get used to a sound that you cant hear very well. I'm still hoping for a miracle that it goes away but i really dont think thats going to happen. sigh. how long have you been using maskers? did you try any other methods like Neuromonics?

 

[carol kane]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/1387665247/Perfect_8_Channel_Tinnitus_Masker_Hearing.html
how about this one? Yer, i tend to try to mask out the tinnitus as much as possible which im not sure if thats the best. because surely you cant get used to a sound that you cant hear very well. I'm still hoping for a miracle that it goes away but i really dont think thats going to happen. sigh. how long have you been using maskers? did you try any other methods like Neuromonics?

Hey Neenie, i sent you a nice post, did you see it???

 

[Neenie]

Hi Carol. Yer I did. Thanks I'm really sad because I'm going to have a bad Christmas because of the stupid tinnitus. I'm still so angry at myself that apparently it's my own brain that is keeping it there. I just don't believe that if I changed my thinking that it would go away, or that I wont care about it. How the hell can you not care that you have a loud ringing in your ear? When people tell me to not devote attention to it, I think "HOW??" Yes, I guess if you keep yourself busy you notice it less but how unfair is it that we are never allowed to be lazy ever again. Or unable to read a magazine in peace of a book, and unable to do yoga or meditation, or anything relaxing really. We were gonna go on holidays to Bali but I cancelled because I know I would have a crap time so it's not worth it. I just hope I magically die in my sleep soon. Well no, that's a lie. I totally don't want to die. I just want it all to stop. Enough already!

 

[carol kane]

Hi Carol. Yer I did. Thanks I'm really sad because I'm going to have a bad Christmas because of the stupid tinnitus. I'm still so angry at myself that apparently it's my own brain that is keeping it there. I just don't believe that if I changed my thinking that it would go away, or that I wont care about it. How the hell can you not care that you have a loud ringing in your ear? When people tell me to not devote attention to it, I think "HOW??" Yes, I guess if you keep yourself busy you notice it less but how unfair is it that we are never allowed to be lazy ever again. Or unable to read a magazine in peace of a book, and unable to do yoga or meditation, or anything relaxing really. We were gonna go on holidays to Bali but I cancelled because I know I would have a crap time so it's not worth it. I just hope I magically die in my sleep soon. Well no, that's a lie. I totally don't want to die. I just want it all to stop. Enough already!

I know Neenie, i feel exactly the same way ... I´m dreading Christmas,everyone laughing and joking, and me just looking at them with a trembling lip and tears in my eyes, well i´ll be getting drunk and then going to bed... so i´ll think of you knowing i´m not the only one hating that day ... God help us both. x

 

[LeQuack]

I also have to keep up this facade of happiness.

 

[Lynnette]

Hey Neenie,
There are tinnitus clinics out there that may be able to give you more info one what is available to you in terms do masking or tinnitus retraining therapy. I went to one in NC, Duke Tinnitus Clinic. They test your tinnitus level, try to match the sound you hear and then see if you're a candidate for the masking (I wasn't yet since my t got louder after listening to a test for a minute straight). It's a pain, I totally understand. I've had t in both ears since August and it has disrupted my life considerably. Im trying to learn to cope with it, using noise machine when sleeping, and I also started am ssri which is helping me move on and just deal with it (I was experiencing anxiety and depression as well though).

 

[Relic Hunter]

I know Neenie, i feel exactly the same way ... I´m dreading Christmas,everyone laughing and joking, and me just looking at them with a trembling lip and tears in my eyes, well i´ll be getting drunk and then going to bed... so i´ll think of you knowing i´m not the only one hating that day ... God help us both. x

I so wish that the holidays would soon be over. I never attend family get to gathers anymore and cannot stand getting out in all the noise and traffic. It makes me a nervous wreck.
I guess everyone thinks I am a wimp or just crazy but it has been a long time since I really give a damn what people think. Let them suffer a few Christmases with this and see how jolly they are.

 

[gary]

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/1387665247/Perfect_8_Channel_Tinnitus_Masker_Hearing.html
how about this one? Yer, i tend to try to mask out the tinnitus as much as possible which im not sure if thats the best. because surely you cant get used to a sound that you cant hear very well. I'm still hoping for a miracle that it goes away but i really dont think thats going to happen. sigh. how long have you been using maskers? did you try any other methods like Neuromonics?

Neenie, you need to find another audiologist, call around and ask if they sell and set up hearing aid masker combo's like the MoxI Kiss E made by Unitron. That is what I have, it works very well.

 

[Aaron]

If you have some hearing loss, you could buy a masker combined with hearing aids, if your hearing loss is not severe, you could order one masker from the audiologist. GHI is a brand which focus on masker for years and comparatively cheap, 500 dollars for a masker. Others like Starkey and Widex are much more expensive.

 

[Aaron]

http://www.generalhearing.com/tinnitus-relief/products.html