Use of background noise in order to distract you from tinnitus, whether it is music from your mobile phone or soothing sounds from a noise generator device, is counter-productive. Use of sound to distract you from tinnitus is an avoidance technique which may be useful in short term but in long term doesnt allow you to learn how to cope with your tinnitus. The physiology of your body is capable of allowing you to fall into asleep despite hearing a noise, no matter how loud the noise is. People can fall into sleep in all sort of noisy places, e.g., airports, beach, train, etc. Indeed, many people with tinnitus also fall into sleep with no particular problem (see summary of my recent research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology and International Journal of Audiology via https://hashirtinnitusclinic.com/insomnia-and-tinnitus/ ). So hearing a noise, whether it is tinnitus or an external sound, does not necessarily mean that you cant sleep. I also have studied the usefulness of bedside sound generators from patients perspectives. Almost all of the patients who found sound generators to be effective, also rated counselling or education as effective. This makes it difficult to determine whether the sound generators were effective components of the treatment package. In my clinics, we no longer offer sound generators as we believe that such avoidance methods actually delay the progress of the individual in learning how to cope with their tinnitus and how to sleep despite hearing tinnitus. I have seen people who had tinnitus for many years and yet never learned how to cope with it due to their use of avoidance techniques, e.g., sound generators. Sometimes, feeling that you are dependent to sound generators is a source anxiety itself. For more info on my research see https://hashirtinnitusclinic.com/research/
