At the Calgary Ear Centre (CEC), we understand the impact that Tinnitus and other sound sensitivities such as Hyperacusis, Misophonia, and Phonophobia can have on your life.

While you may have been told that “nothing that can be done”, there are many things that you can do to manage your sound sensitivity and reduce the impact on your quality of life.

The umbrella of Sound Sensitivity includes Tinnitus, Hyperacusis, Misophonia and Phonophobia.

Calgary Ear Centre offers a detailed assessment and consultation package to individuals struggling with tinnitus or sound sensitivities. This will come in the form of 2 one-hour appointments that will provide a combination of specialized testing, educational counselling, and recommendations for ongoing management. You will receive a detailed report discussing the findings of the assessment.

To make appropriate recommendations, a full hearing assessment may be completed. This determines if you have any damage to the small hair cells in your ears. If you do not have recent audiological testing, an updated test will be provided for you as part of your full assessment. You may not be concerned about your hearing, but sound sensitivities are often a symptom of hearing loss.

There are two important components of sound sensitivity management:

Educational Counselling – to explain what is happening.

Sound Therapy - You may notice other sounds in the environment helps to reduce the awareness. We correct for hearing loss and/or add tinnitus masking to make it less obvious and bothersome.

Tinnitus

Tinnitus affects people in two main areas: functional (focus, sleeping, concentration, relationships, etc.) and emotional (depression, anxiety, short temper, etc.). Examining these two areas helps to guide recommendations on how the individual can best manage their sound sensitivity. A combination of detailed questionnaires and test findings will outline the individual’s struggles in these areas, and they will work with the audiologist to create a management plan that will fit into their lifestyle. 

DID YOU KNOW: 20% of the world has tinnitus, but only a small fraction (1/4) of those have interference in their quality of life. 

Managing Tinnitus

Our goal is not to get rid of the sound, but rather to help you manage the tinnitus so that it has not impact on your life.

The audiologist may integrate the following components into your management plan:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): Has been shown to reduce intrusiveness of sound sensitivity. Our audiologist will take the time to explain the processes of CBT to help you better understand how they can help. If it is found that this would be helpful to you, we can refer you to a professional who specializes in this technique.

Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT): Considers the brain’s role in tinnitus intrusiveness. It used to be thought that tinnitus was being caused by a structure within the ear. We now know it is an abnormal connection between the ear and our emotional center.

Educational Counselling: Knowledge is power. Your audiologist can talk to you about your tinnitus and explain how your body reacts to it. This knowledge can make it easier for you to manage your symptoms. 

Hearing Aids: Many people with tinnitus also have hearing loss. Hearing aids can help you hear better and may decrease your perception of your tinnitus. 

Masking Devices: which is a device that produces noise to help cover over your tinnitus or sound sensitivity. There are also Bedside Maskers that also create noise to help cover over your tinnitus to help you sleep.

Medical Treatment: Sometimes you may need to see a family doctor or ENT physician to deal with ear wax build-up or to rule out any medical issue that could be causing your tinnitus.

What Is Tinnitus?

• Tinnitus can be pronounced ‘tin-EYE-tus’ or ‘TIN-it-tus’ and is typically a symptom of damage to the ears.

• We talk about ringing in the ears, but in fact, it often does not sound like a ring. It could be a hiss, crickets, buzzing, high pitched squeal, and in some cases, even music!

• Tinnitus can change. It can be intermittent, steady, louder, or quieter. All these changes are typical.

• Most people’s brains get used to the sound and filter it out after a time, so that it has no impact on quality of life. For others tinnitus can affect both functional and emotional aspects of the person’s life.

• All types of tinnitus can be managed – while there is no way to get rid of the sound, it can be managed effectively to improve your quality of life. 

Possible Causes of Tinnitus

Phonophobia

If you are experiencing any of these sound challenges, contact us to book for your initial assessment!