0.6% of Americans Have Tinnitus That Is a Big Problem

[3ri0w]

https://news.uci.edu/health/lin-led-study-identifies-rates-severity-of-tinnitus-in-the-u-s/

UC Irvine Health otolaryngologist Dr. Harrison Lin and colleagues analyzed the representative 2007 National Health Interview Survey and found that among an estimated 222.1 million U.S. adults, 21.4 million (9.6 percent) had experienced tinnitus in the past 12 months. Of those, 27 percent reported symptoms lasting longer than 15 years, and 36 percent had nearly constant symptoms. Higher rates of tinnitus occurred in people with consistent exposure to loud noises at work and during recreational time. In terms of severity, 7.2 percent reported their tinnitus as a big or very big problem, compared with 42 percent who reported it as a small problem. Only 49 percent had discussed their tinnitus with a physician. Lin believes these results call attention to this common health concern and should lead to a large epidemiologic study of tinnitus and its management patterns in the U.S. adult population. "And with newly published practice guidelines, otolaryngologists may play a greater role in addressing this issue," he said, "not only by treating their patients accordingly, but also in educating other physicians and healthcare professionals."
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Soooooo 0.072 * 0.09 * 100% = 0.648%
You know when people say "in a group of ten there is one with T". It's much smaller percent of people who have a big problem with T?

 

[Marlino]

This number is realistic or even still too high I guess. In the local support group are maybe 40 people listed. About half having it severe. Let's say that only 50% of locals with severe t are in the support group it makes 40 sufferers im the town of 80.000 people.
Btw I'm youngest there. 90% are in the age of retirement.

 

[3ri0w]

This number is realistic or even still too high I guess. In the local support group are maybe 40 people listed. About half having it severe. Let's say that only 50% of locals with severe t are in the support group it makes 40 sufferers im the town of 80.000 people.
Btw I'm youngest there. 90% are in the age of retirement.

Maybe the other sufferers are here on tinnitustalk? Do they shout or speak with loud voice at the support group? I've been thinking about attending that kinda but I'm scared how my sensitive hearing would react

 

[Marlino]

Interestingly nobody besides me from this support group is in this forum.

The elderly usually don't shout.
It's really weird to attend as a youngster and pointless anyway.
But actually being in this forum is pointless as well, since we are all just looking for the miracle

 

[3ri0w]

Interestingly nobody besides me from this support group is in this forum.

The elderly usually don't shout.
It's really weird to attend as a youngster and pointless anyway.
But actually being in this forum is pointless as well, since we are all just looking for the miracle

hope is everything

 

[Jason C]

I don't know anyone with it. We are def special and very unlucky.

Or in my case very very stupid!

 

[serendipity1996]

I only know one other person with it and tbh his case seems a bit of an oddity (T since 8 years old and 12 years of further noise exposure hasn't appeared to have worsened it or caused any hearing loss). Being 20 years old as well it's really disheartening....sometimes you see those articles about 'the ipod generation risking deafness' etc but it is probably overblown hyperbole because you feel so alone with it. 'Tinnitus, what's that?' they say 'Oh I get that after a night out, don't worry about it!' Yeah....

 

[Jason C]

I only know one other person with it and tbh his case seems a bit of an oddity (T since 8 years old and 12 years of further noise exposure hasn't appeared to have worsened it or caused any hearing loss). Being 20 years old as well it's really disheartening....sometimes you see those articles about 'the ipod generation risking deafness' etc but it is probably overblown hyperbole because you feel so alone with it. 'Tinnitus, what's that?' they say 'Oh I get that after a night out, don't worry about it!' Yeah....

I do think it takes a lot too damage your hearing though. Kids blasting their ears on a daily basis is just asking for trouble and some of the in ear buds can go crazy loud. I have a set of skull candy ear buds and after using them once decided they could be dangerous. If I wasn't exposed to the alarm I doubt I would have ever gotten T in my life. I wasn't a fan of headphones, wasn't a clubber, had only been too one loud concert back in 2010, I dont work in a loud environment, this alarm was mega powerful though and I was exposed for about 10 mins too do the damage.
I knew the dangers although obviously I didn't realise T is this much of a disability, I was very very stupid and now have a life sentence to pay for it.

 

[MikeL1972]

1/10th of the adult population experiencing tinnitus is an extraordinarily large number.

I do not wish it upon anyone, but if Donald Trump or someone in his family were to become afflicted, tinnitus would be more in the public eye.

 

[serendipity1996]

I do think it takes a lot too damage your hearing though. Kids blasting their ears on a daily basis is just asking for trouble and some of the in ear buds can go crazy loud. I have a set of skull candy ear buds and after using them once decided they could be dangerous. If I wasn't exposed to the alarm I doubt I would have ever gotten T in my life. I wasn't a fan of headphones, wasn't a clubber, had only been too one loud concert back in 2010, I dont work in a loud environment, this alarm was mega powerful though and I was exposed for about 10 mins too do the damage.
I knew the dangers although obviously I didn't realise T is this much of a disability, I was very very stupid and now have a life sentence to pay for it.

Yeah, I was never even one of those kids who went around at max volume just prolonged exposure I guess. If only I had known never to use headphones none of this would have happened. And not knowing that hearing damage causes a ringing in the ears as well as a bunch of other nasty symptoms (fullness, hyperacusis etc) - I thought 'hearing loss' just meant everything got a bit quieter but tbh I think the general population probably thinks that too. I had never heard of tinnitus etc before any of this, there really is so little awareness.

I really am struggling to see a light at the end of the tunnel - best case scenario there is a cure or effective treatment to restore hearing in the 'near' future but we are still probably talking about decades away. Even if there is a cure in my lifetime the best years of my life will be over. It is such a struggle, I'm barely functional atm it's beyond me how I will lead a productive life and do all the things society expects of you in this state. I'm worried about going back to university next year and starting honours because if this is still a big issue in my life (it probably will be, we know it's not going away anytime soon) it's hard to envisage anything other than failure and messing up my degree.

 

[Jason C]

Yeah, I was never even one of those kids who went around at max volume just prolonged exposure I guess. If only I had known never to use headphones none of this would have happened. And not knowing that hearing damage causes a ringing in the ears as well as a bunch of other nasty symptoms (fullness, hyperacusis etc) - I thought 'hearing loss' just meant everything got a bit quieter but tbh I think the general population probably thinks that too. I had never heard of tinnitus etc before any of this, there really is so little awareness.

I really am struggling to see a light at the end of the tunnel - best case scenario there is a cure or effective treatment to restore hearing in the 'near' future but we are still probably talking about decades away. Even if there is a cure in my lifetime the best years of my life will be over. It is such a struggle, I'm barely functional atm it's beyond me how I will lead a productive life and do all the things society expects of you in this state. I'm worried about going back to university next year and starting honours because if this is still a big issue in my life (it probably will be, we know it's not going away anytime soon) it's hard to envisage anything other than failure and messing up my degree.

I had heard of tinnitus but had never heard of hyperacusis or any of the other issues this causes. Especially not being able to go to loud places like the cinema or a concert but now it all makes perfect sense. Even my balance has been affected by this yet my hearing is still quite good although damaged and music sounds a mess.
From reading your other posts you have had this for 5 years or more. How did you cope with school etc during that time??

 

[serendipity1996]

I had heard of tinnitus but had never heard of hyperacusis or any of the other issues this causes. Especially not being able to go to loud places like the cinema or a concert but now it all makes perfect sense. Even my balance has been affected by this yet my hearing is still quite good although damaged and music sounds a mess.
From reading your other posts you have had this for 5 years or more. How did you cope with school etc during that time??

Yeah, I first got tinnitus way back when I was like 15 but it was so mild and I remember going to my GP and she just reassured me my hearing was fine and gave me a nasal spray. So I just got on with life and didn't take that as a warning sign and was just so ignorant of hearing damage so continued to expose myself to noise (going to clubs at uni etc) and just assumed that my tinnitus would get way louder if I were causing any further damage so I would know about it. Well, I remember I started to get crackly ears when I yawned a few years later and slight irritation but I just ignorantly did not make the connection here with damage and since I wasn't noticing any actual hearing deficiencies I didn't think much of it. However, I think things must have reached a critical 'tipping point' in the past few months or so because suddenly all these other issues have come on and I really am starting to feel that my hearing is down the drain. Perhaps I am a strange case or even 'lucky' for not suffering these issues earlier on but part of me almost wishes I had got jet engine T when I first got it because at least it would have scared the crap out of me into protecting my ears. So I think my ears are really fucked now despite normal audiogram, they have probably reached a weakened state where they are really susceptible to noise which means my social life is gonna go downhill.

It is the self-loathing that is really getting to me - how could I have been so ignorant etc etc. I can still enjoy music but my ears clog pretty quickly and feel a bit irritated around noise. Yeah, I have had other similar issues too, non-auditory ones, like derealisation, feelings of vertigo etc. How bad is your T itself? Or is it the other accompanying issues that bother you more?

 

[Jason C]

Yeah, I first got tinnitus way back when I was like 15 but it was so mild and I remember going to my GP and she just reassured me my hearing was fine and gave me a nasal spray. So I just got on with life and didn't take that as a warning sign and was just so ignorant of hearing damage so continued to expose myself to noise (going to clubs at uni etc) and just assumed that my tinnitus would get way louder if I were causing any further damage so I would know about it. Well, I remember I started to get crackly ears when I yawned a few years later and slight irritation but I just ignorantly did not make the connection here with damage and since I wasn't noticing any actual hearing deficiencies I didn't think much of it. However, I think things must have reached a critical 'tipping point' in the past few months or so because suddenly all these other issues have come on and I really am starting to feel that my hearing is down the drain. Perhaps I am a strange case or even 'lucky' for not suffering these issues earlier on but part of me almost wishes I had got jet engine T when I first got it because at least it would have scared the crap out of me into protecting my ears. So I think my ears are really fucked now despite normal audiogram, they have probably reached a weakened state where they are really susceptible to noise which means my social life is gonna go downhill.

It is the self-loathing that is really getting to me - how could I have been so ignorant etc etc. I can still enjoy music but my ears clog pretty quickly and feel a bit irritated around noise. Yeah, I have had other similar issues too, non-auditory ones, like derealisation, feelings of vertigo etc. How bad is your T itself? Or is it the other accompanying issues that bother you more?

The self loathing is a massive part of it for me too, i hate myself for going too the alarm that caused my issues.
The T noise is quite mild I think, when I am at work I can't hear it but if I am standing in the car park with no other noise apart from wind I can hear it like a constant hissing noise yet at night in bed in silence I can barely hear it at all.
The other issues like music sounding broken, balance issues, knowing I have damaged my hearing, self loathing, depression etc all part of it but make it impossible for me too live with myself.

 

[serendipity1996]

The self loathing is a massive part of it for me too, i hate myself for going too the alarm that caused my issues.
The T noise is quite mild I think, when I am at work I can't hear it but if I am standing in the car park with no other noise apart from wind I can hear it like a constant hissing noise yet at night in bed in silence I can barely hear it at all.
The other issues like music sounding broken, balance issues, knowing I have damaged my hearing, self loathing, depression etc all part of it but make it impossible for me too live with myself.

Yeah, I cannot believe I was so fucking stupid. Knowing I could have had a perfect life if I didn't have this issue...not 'perfect' but worrying about 'normal' things like my course, or some boy, or money. My ears are consuming me. I know I cannot spend the rest of my life holed up in my room obsessively scouring the web for research updates etc but I am finding it impossible to focus on anything else, my concentration is fucked. Every day death seems more appealing tbh.

 

[serendipity1996]

Yeah, I cannot believe I was so fucking stupid. Knowing I could have had a perfect life if I didn't have this issue...not 'perfect' but worrying about 'normal' things like my course, or some boy, or money. My ears are consuming me. I know I cannot spend the rest of my life holed up in my room obsessively scouring the web for research updates etc but I am finding it impossible to focus on anything else, my concentration is fucked. Every day death seems more appealing tbh. I am on anti-depressants and have started seeing a therapist but tbh even she doesn't believe I have damaged my hearing so I don't see how can work together to help me come to terms with this?!

 

[Oli]

I feel exactly the same way :/