Do you have a ringing in ears and are looking for some relief? Well in this video, I'll
talk about the Widex Zen iPhone app and how it can help you. Coming up!
Hi, I'm Dr. Derek - audiologist, audio engineer, and musician with ProFitHearing.com bringing
you the best insight in today's latest hearing aids, headphones, and audio technology to
improve your life. If you have concerns about your hearing, always consult with your local
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you enjoy this video.
Today, I’m talking about the Widex Zen iPhone app for tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a sound that only you hear. It's not naturally occurring in your environment.
You may notice it occasionally or it could be a constant sound. People often describe
it as a high-pitched buzz or ringing in the ears. First if you experience tinnitus, consult
with your physician and audiologist to rule out any medical cause or hearing loss.
There's many possible causes for tinnitus, so make sure to see one of these healthcare
professionals in your area for a checkup. Also check out my other videos on tinnitus
causes. I’ll leave a link for those at the end of this video.
The Widex Zen iPhone app is a great option whether you wear hearing aids or not. This
free app is also available for Android devices. The app indicates that it's intended for adults
above the age of 21. You can use it in a quiet environment when you're relaxing. Your audiologist
might use this app as part of a customized tinnitus management program.
If you have bluetooth or iPhone compatible hearing aids, you can also stream sounds directly
from the app. If you don't wear hearing aids, use headphones for the best listening experience.
I personally like using noise cancelling headphones. I’ll leave a link to my headphone reviews
in the description below if you're interested.
Also make sure to listen at a safe listening level. Tinnitus masking sounds should be used
at a soft audible level that takes your mind off the tinnitus, but loud sounds should be
avoided since they can cause hearing loss over time.
Okay so let's take a look at the app.
So when we first open this app, you can see it has four different selections at the bottom.
We have sounds, relaxation, sleep, and learn. Let's take a look at sounds first. So on the
first page for sounds you can see at the top left hand corner there's a little drop down
menu, and this tells you how to find a professional and learn more about tinnitus. And then all
the other information about the app is listed there. In the top right hand corner, that's
where it has the help screen. It gives you a little bit more information about how to
use the app.
For the sounds, you have a selection here to choose from. You just click on list. You
can see some of the first sounds here. These are more environmental type sounds. So we
have sandy beach, rocky beach, birds by the pond, forest wind, tropical night. So you
can see a lot of these sounds here at the beginning are more environmental type sounds.
As we go down the screen we can see we get into the Zen sounds. And the Zen sounds will
use the environmental sounds combined with different musical tones. So you have four
different types of Zen sounds to choose from. And then at the very bottom we have just your
pink noise and brownian noise.
But you'll get an idea to see which type of sound you prefer listening to. I tend to like
the Zen sounds themselves, because they have (like I said before) a bit more of a musical
nature to them. They have the soft musical tones playing in addition to the environmental
sounds. And you also have the ability to adjust of course your volume, and then you can also
adjust the left and right balance. Also if you want to use the timer, you can select
how long you'd like the sound to play and then it'll shut off. A lot of people use these
types of sounds to help them get to sleep at night. So those are the types of sounds
that you can choose from.
If we take a look at the relaxation screen, you can see there's three different types
of exercises to choose from. You have deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation,
and guided imagery. So these types of relaxation exercises can reduce stress, and it can help
you manage your tinnitus. So it's something to consider. If we click on this we can see
that it has a guided exercise. So it's a recorded exercise where someone's guiding you through
step-by-step how to do this. The first one here is about 15 minutes long. You can choose
which language you want it to be in. So if if you want a different language other than
English, you can select it here. And then also if we take a look at the progressive
muscle relaxation, this track is about eight minutes long. And guided imagery is about
seven minutes long.
So these are really good exercises to try out to help you with tinnitus, to take your
mind off tinnitus. It's something to consider using in addition to the sounds that I’ve
discussed so far. And then also it has a sleep exercise. So just like the other relaxation
exercises I just discussed, this is a guided exercise will help you get to sleep at night.
So that's something to to also look at. And it goes through and tells you how to use the
app, how to use these different exercises. So there's a nice description when you're
going through these. There's a nice description on how to use everything, some tips and tricks.
And the last one is the learn screen, and this just gives you more information about
tinnitus. So it talks about possible causes - is tinnitus related to hearing? does it
affect my hearing? what does the brain have to do with tinnitus? can my tinnitus get worse?
So it, it's just a nice educational guide here if you want to learn more. And again
it gives you more resources on different types of help for tinnitus. So if you want to learn
more about the subject, you can read it here.
But that's it. Those are the the four categories that you can select from on the app itself.
Using a combination of these types of sounds and the different relaxation and sleep exercises
can be an effective strategy for management of tinnitus. Of course we always recommend
that you consult with your local physician and audiologist. They can guide you through
and give you appropriate customized treatment and care for your needs. But this tinnitus
app is a good resource that your audiologist can use with you to give you some more relief
from your tinnitus.
If you have any questions about this app, please leave it in the comments below. I hope
you'll find this Widex Zen tinnitus app helpful.
So for today's question, have you tried the Widex Zen tinnitus app? What do you think
of it? Let's connect in the comments.
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looking for.
Remember Pro Fit Hearing brings you the best insight today's latest hearing aids, headphones,
and audio technology to improve your life. If you have concerns about your hearing, always
consult with your local physician or audiologist.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video.