Conceal the Ringing with Tinnitus Maskers

Tinnitus maskers are sets of devices used to suppress or mask the ringing in the ears by adding natural or artificial sound to the environment of a tinnitus sufferer. These maskers are based on simple white noise machines.

The idea behind tinnitus maskers can be further elucidated by using a comparison with light. For instance, the light becomes more perceptible when someone is in a dark room and a lamp is turned on and off. Nonetheless, if that someone is inside a well-lighted room, the switching on and off of the lights will not be as noticeable as compared to the first scenario. This mechanism is the same with sound masking. With the help of tinnitus maskers, the level of sound in the patient’s environment is increased, the result of which is a less perception of the ringing in the patient’s head replaced by a calming and less intrusive sound.

Tinnitus maskers are generally used by tinnitus sufferers when they are in a silent environment or when they are on the verge of sleep or relaxation. These maskers come in different forms such as CD or MP3 recordings or bedside noise generators. They can also come in a form of sound pillow, a pillow which has small embedded speakers. Through these devices, the tinnitus sounds are masked in the patient’s head.

Tinnitus maskers also utilize soothing natural sounds which may include rainfall, waves crashing on the ocean or other synthetic sounds like white noise, pink noise or brown noise which desensitize the auditory system from tinnitus sounds. These sounds also create a relaxing environment since the contrast between the background sound and tinnitus sounds is reduced. There are also software based tinnitus maskers that are more advanced and developed and can employ a mix of natural and synthetic sounds.