What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is the medical term used to describe any noise that we hear in a single ear, both ears, or in our heads. Tinnitus is often described as a ringing noise but other people may say it is more of a buzzing, humming, waving or whistling sound. Tinnitus may be extremely severe almost to the point where listening to, and understanding speech, can become almost impossible. It can be experienced intermittently and with varying degrees of intensity, or in the worst case, tinnitus might be experienced all the time.
Tinnitus is quite common and can occur at any age, and it is estimated that 10% of adults have suffered from tinnitus at some point.
Causes
Most tinnitus is caused by a problem with the inner ear, when the perception of what should normally be a quiet sound in the ear is exaggerated and becomes predominant. The person becomes increasingly aware of the sound and concentrates more and more on it. As the sound becomes louder, the person becomes even more aware of it and focuses even greater attention on it.
Tinnitus is often linked to hearing loss. For this reason it's more common in older people who have age-related hearing loss. But it can also result from a head or ear injury, ear infections, diseases or even derive from emotional stress.
Exposure to loud noise may also cause tinnitus so wearing hearing protection is vitally important when working in noisy environments or when listening to loud music. Consider wearing sound insulating in-ear monitors when listening to i-Pods or MP3 players to help prevent exposure to dangerous sound levels for prolonged periods of time.
Help with tinnitus
Tinnitus therapies include relaxation techniques and cognitive therapies which counsel patients to cope with the emotional reaction to tinnitus and to help improve quality of life.
Hearing aids can sometimes benefit tinnitus patients, as wearing a hearing aid can help relieve the symptoms of tinnitus through masking the problem sound by making external sounds seem louder. Leightons experienced Hearing Aid Audiologists are always happy to provide advice to tinnitus sufferers but warn that digital hearing aids may not always be the right solution. Open ear hearing aids tend to have the best results when helping to mask the uncomfortable noises that affect tinnitus patients.
At Leightons we are happy to offer advice and a free hearing aid demonstration to Tinnitus sufferers in order to test whether wearing a digital hearing aid will help to alleviate the symptoms.