In recognition of Stress Awareness Month, we’d like to take this week’s hearing fact to highlight tinnitus, a distressing hearing condition that can impact not only our hearing but daily livelihood—including the workplace, according to recent research.
Tinnitus, the continuous sensation of ringing or other noise in our ears (examples: buzzing, roaring or humming) when no outside noise is present, is often caused by age-related hearing loss, noise exposure, medications, earwax or an ear infection, and other ailments.
Now, a new study shows that tinnitus can affect employee performance and overall wellness at work, to the point that one in five workers either reduce their working hours or leave their jobs altogether.
Let’s explore how this important hearing fact came to be—and the good news about an effective solution available for treating tinnitus symptoms.
Study explored how tinnitus affected ability to work
Researchers from U.K.-based Anglia Ruskin University surveyed adults with tinnitus to uncover how the condition affected people’s ability to work, particularly when paired with anxiety, depression, or a lower quality of life.
Additionally, they wanted to examine whether participating in a cognitive therapy program could help improve job performance and reduce the mental toll of the condition.
The results: Prior to undertaking the cognitive therapy program, participants reported that the tinnitus had caused them to:
- Work fewer hours (11%)
- Stop working completely (7%)
- Receive disability benefits (1%)
Findings also revealed that participants were “significantly less effective” in their work capacity before taking part in the cognitive therapy program compared to afterward.
When interviewed, they reported that tinnitus made it challenging to focus, concentrate, and manage their fatigue. As a result, many reached for coping strategies or modified their work roles to handle the tinnitus-related difficulties they were experiencing.
The researchers concluded that workplaces should recognize tinnitus as a condition that can affect people’s ability to work and recommended that employers offer support and access to tinnitus treatment. They also advised that health professionals consider how to help tinnitus patients better function at work.
Hearing aids can help with tinnitus and stress
We couldn’t agree more with the recommendations of this study, which not only spotlight how tinnitus can negatively affect us at the workplace, but also that emotional stress and tinnitus can go hand in hand.
While cognitive behavioral therapy can help reduce the emotional reaction one may feel toward their tinnitus1, there is also a solution that can directly alleviate tinnitus symptoms—all while improving our hearing and reducing associated stress: hearing aids.
In honor of Stress Awareness Month, let’s explore some of the biggest ways wearing hearing aids can help relieve tinnitus and stress in the workplace—and everywhere else that’s important to our lives.
How hearing aids can relieve tinnitus symptoms
Numerous studies have shown that hearing aids can help with tinnitus, which may be due to the link between hearing loss and tinnitus (with tinnitus often being a symptom of an underlying hearing loss).
Here’s how:
- Hearing aids help distract from tinnitus through new sounds
Wearing hearing aids can help us turn our attention away from tinnitus noise by introducing “new” sounds our hearing loss had long deprived us from. These can include anything from the hum of the printer at the office to the sound of roller doors opening and closing across the warehouse space.
- Hearing aids can mask tinnitus sounds
When tinnitus becomes persistently irritating, hearing aids such as Starkey’s latest devices are an asset for providing relief through maskers. A form of sound therapy, a masker is a continuous noise that plays through our hearing technology to further distract us from bothersome tinnitus sounds.
These hearing aids feature masker options we can select based on our preferences and fine-tune anytime with help from our hearing care professional. Each focuses on different frequencies of sound that can be modulated or varied and adjusted for volume using the My Starkey app. (Ocean sounds are also available to help with relaxation).
Talk about a relaxing use of our lunch break—or anytime we need tinnitus relief most.
How hearing aids can reduce stress
For many, it’s not only the burden of tinnitus that distresses but also the hearing loss it is often linked to. Hearing loss can induce everything from the anxiety of having to carry a conversation with background noise to the listening fatigue caused by intense concentration on speech or lipreading.
The good news—treating hearing loss can enable us to engage with life and pay attention to others, two factors that are key to relieving stress.
Here’s how:
- Hearing aids can help with social anxiety and isolation
The Mayo Clinic named social contact a good stress reliever because it provides support and distraction from challenges when we’re feeling overwhelmed. Better hearing through hearing aids can help empower us to socialize with colleagues or loved ones, or engage in community activities like volunteering, taking classes, attending our place of worship, etc.
- Hearing aids can help support physical activity
Physical activity is a well-known stress-fighter, thanks to the upbeat feeling that arises with the increase in the brain’s endorphins and the redirection of our attention from problems to body movements. Wearing hearing aids can help us stay active—from playing pickleball with co-workers to gardening on the weekend—by reducing the chances of falling through increased spatial awareness.
- Hearing aids can help promote laughter
When we can hear, we can laugh—which, according to the Mayo Clinic, reduces our mental load plus benefits our bodies by igniting then cooling our stress response. So, whether we invite our funniest work buddy to happy hour or stream a comedy special after hours—we’ll likely feel better and have a great time doing it.
Take Stress Awareness Month to treat hearing issues
What better time than Stress Awareness Month to manage a challenge that can continually cause stress, like tinnitus and/or hearing loss? Find a licensed hearing care professional near you and they will be happy to help you every step of the way.
Here’s to hearing better, feeling better, and working better—starting today.