Tinnitus Awareness Week: February 5-11, 2024

Have you ever 'heard' a squealing in your ears that no one else seems to be aware of? You may have experienced tinnitus. Often described as a buzzing, ringing, clicking, or chirping, tinnitus affects up to 25 million people in the US alone per year. Tinnitus, in most cases, is the brain's reaction to damage in the auditory system. Researchers believe that in most of those cases the tinnitus correlates to the specific regions of hearing loss (for example: high frequency hearing loss usually results in a high frequency tinnitus).   90% of tinnitus cases can be linked to hearing loss. Loud noise exposure is the number one cause of hearing loss and tinnitus. It is overwhelmingly common in our service members as well as those who work around loud noises all day. This alone is a huge reason to protect your hearing. We offer custom solutions for hearing protection to help prevent hearing loss as well as the commonly accompanying tinnitus.

If the hearing loss and tinnitus is already present, treating the hearing loss is very important. Not only does treating the hearing loss help to prevent cognitive decline, depression, and helps reconnect you to the world, treating the hearing loss with prescriptive devices works to decrease the sensation of tinnitus significantly, in about 70% of cases. Other causes of tinnitus can be obstruction or wax impaction, ototoxic medications, trauma, TMJ, TBI, and many other medical conditions.

The severity can range from mild and acute to severe and chronic. Tinnitus can affect daily life in profound ways. If you or someone you know suffers from tinnitus, especially a severe case, you know how debilitating this condition can be. I myself have suffered from acute tinnitus after illness on occasion and find it incredibly distracting when it occurs. My husband suffers from moderate hearing loss but his main complaint was the severe chronic tinnitus that accompanied it. Luckily, he was one of the 70% of cases that was helped with being fit with prescriptive hearing aids. He says it is a night and day difference when he wears his hearing aids. Here he is after his initial fit with his new RIC hearing aids.

Other options that have been shown to be effective are sound machines or classical music. These sounds tend to stimulate both hemispheres of the brain which has been shown to be useful in decreasing the perception of tinnitus in some patients.

If you or someone you know suffers from tinnitus, know you aren't alone. It is not something you have to suffer with alone. While no one else may be able to hear what you're hearing, you don't have to suffer "in silence". There are treatment options available. One of the first steps in the process should involve a comprehensive hearing evaluation from a trusted hearing healthcare provider. At Hear-ology are passionate about you are your overall health and well-being. We offer comprehensive, state of the art hearing evaluations and testing and will work with you to find the right solution for you! Call 580-227-8852 to schedule your appointment.

For more information on tinnitus you can visit https://www.ata.org/about-tinnitus/