The Lack of Awareness

We live in a loud society, and its getting louder. Tinnitus gets more and more common. The fact that our society is loud may be hard to deal with, but a maybe more important factor that makes people get tinnitus is the lack of awareness. As tinnitus costs society large amounts of money, this is something that should be dealt with. Before I got tinnitus, I barely knew what it was. I thought it was something only old people got, and I certainly didnt know that my headphones could lead to this condition. I was told to maybe stop using them so much, because it could be bad for your hearing, but no one mentioned tinnitus. I think this is the case for many tinnitus sufferers. They didnt know what they were doing to their ears. They didnt even know about the condition. Otoxic coctails is another example. Simple information that can save someones life. Ever Ipod should have a caution sticker on it and metioning tinnitus and hyperacusis. Thats what they do on cigarette packs regarding lung cancer. Pupils should be introduced to tinnitus in school. They should be told that more and more people get it, and its not just a rare condtion that only people with bad luck gets. If society dont deal with this lack of awareness, Im afraid tinnitus will become a great burden on society. These are some simple measures wich I would believe would have huge effects.

 

Yep, thats why a good percentage here are in this mess in the first place.

Awareness hasn't changed and people are just as reckless with their hearing now.

Im a member of a music forum here, there was a Death Metal show on last night and I was reading the reports today (the closest ill get to a show like that now) but the amount of people saying things like "awesome show, ears still ringing 6hrs later" was baffling.

The information is out there, its just not delivered in any type of fashion to stem the tide of new cases.

 

Problem is people only search for it once the damage is done, like myself. There definitely needs to be a lot more forewarning out there. It's already estimated that T affects 1 in 10 to some degree but with exposure to noise via ear buds, live concerts, night clubs etc. this figure could rocket over the next 50 or so years.

Why there is so little information out there for something so preventable is baffling. I had never even heard of T before I got it. I just assumed the ears would "heal" after noise exposure. With so many people going out to these loud places you can be forgiven for assuming it's safe.

 

Am I the only one who is frustrated and pissed off that there is a severe lack of awareness regarding tinnitus.

 

No Asian, you're not alone. It's just sad that so little is happening for us. I don't know why big pharma isn't getting into Tinnitus to search for possible cures. Is it because they don't think anything is possible? Otonomy, Autofony and Auris are much smaller companies (As far I know).

 

But what if you never listened to anything through loud speakers or headphones.
Like me, I never owned an mp3 player or an i pod. I never listened to loud music or anything loud. I stayed in the countryside where there is hardly a passing car. This sound just started and then ramped up and up and up. Everyone is staying it is stress. But where is the proof of that? How can stress cause this? The BTA says that stress cannot cause it. On other sites it says it can. Loads of people on TT are saying stress causes it - but how? So it is not just awareness of ipods or walkmans or concerts. There is more going on than this. And what about the medication. I went to the doctor and asked for anti depressants. I couldnt believe I was asking for it. I never took so much as an aspirin in my life before. I asked her for something that was safe for the ears. She looks it up. She prescribes me an AD that can cause deafness! All over the web, people have taken it for just a month and suffered deafness permanent from this med. Is she insane this doctor? No she is simply unaware and too damned lazy to care.
So please dont talk just about noise and headphones and awareness. There is much much more to be aware of than noise. I for one am utterly debilitated by this and am living from hour to hour now.

 

It does seem quite common for tinnitus to come on for no reason at all. Unfortunately no one can do anything about such cases and it's over to the boffins to come up with a cure. What should be done, however, is to stop the preventable causes of T such as loud noise. You're never going to be able to save everyone unfortunately, but by putting measure in place you can significantly reduce the number of people who suffer.

 

I think the reason why there is a lack of awareness is because of the fear of financial turmoil.

What I mean is, if a shocking advert was put on TV about Tinnitus and how you can develop it if you don't start protecting your ears, it would just scare people into not attending concerts, night-clubs or any other noise related recreational activities.

I've only ever seen ONE advert on TV relating to Tinnitus, it was promoting the importance of protecting your ears in noisy WORK environments...and that was a long time ago.

 

there were noise prevention / tinnitus adverts which appeared on american TV in the fifties. These were promoted by a famous american actor at the time who suffered from T.
For some reason these adverts simply disappeared and weren't seen again.

 

As sad as it is...there is a business with Tinnitus:

Anti-depressant meds
Sleeping meds
Hearing aids
ENT
Audiology
Tinnitus maskers
Counsellors

Non-T sufferers aren't very cost effective.

 

An advert like this would be helpful -

TINNITUS- Can you hear that?

 

Well unfortunately, i was fully aware of tinnitus before i had, i though: how horrible could that be... but that's because i'm a musician.

i wore earplugs 95% of the time, didn't prevent me of getting tinnitus

even before i had T, i always was advising my friends to wear earplugs at concerts, i always made sure my girlfriend had earplugs while attending show or i would be very angry...

 

How did your T start ??

 

well i don't really know, the week it started i was learning how to play drums with silent sticks..., then had a guitar amp feedback in my left ear and was kind of partying hard for an hour or so at some friends place without earplugs but nothing extraordinary, guess that was enough...

 

So do you have any hearing loss ??

 

i don't think i felt a difference in my hearing after my T started, i have very slight hearing loss in my left ear (T is only in left ear) but my neck and back were hurting for years so i guess there may be some link, well i'll never know i guess.

what about you ?

 

I only became aware of my T in June this year, it flared up due to anxiety and prolonged for a month cause I was convinced I had hearing damage from a night out, but after the doctor sent me to an audiologist for a hearing test they did reassure me that sometimes T can be an anxiety symptom (even in one ear) rather than hearing damage. It acts like an "emotional barometer" for some people. I even phoned up the BTA regarding this issue and they agree.

So I had the hearing test and it came back "normal", and since then my T symptoms have reduced significantly.

I only ever hear it if am stressed, it was probably there all along but my mind never noticed it before. It could be mistaken for the sound of water pipes or steam pipes to the sufferer.

I use to have other symptoms like racing thoughts, prolonged thoughts and introspection. And I got to a place where my mind was getting calm and it picked up on the last lingering symptom...

Mine started off as a "hissing" sound which sometimes became a very high pitched eeeeeee sound...when my anxiety was at it's worse my head would make a hiss/sizzle/cricket noise and it would gradually retreat to my left ear as I relaxed a little, but I was stuck in this cycle of anxiety and panic.

As it slowly improved I was hopeful that this couldn't be hearing damage cause I did not have a constant tone.

After being prescribed Remeron/Mirtazapine I noticed the T was gone after getting a good sleep and then re-appear in the day as my mind got wound-up/switched-on looking for it.

So after getting the hearing test I learned what my T was and how to keep it under control, it has flared up a bit now but only because I have brought the subject of "Tinnitus" to the forefront of my mind, so it's best I don't go there.

At it's baseline it is just a soft hissing sound that doesn't bother me too much when I sleep, sometimes it's not even there but I know it will disappear completely when I sort my anxiety issues out.

I have now bought better ear plugs to wear at loud pubs and clubs, not just concerts. And I always listened to my iPod music with earbuds at safe audible levels, never a full volume bar.

Never take your ears for granted cause you never know how close you are to getting Tinnitus from hearing damage until it's too late.

So that was my experience.

 

These are the ear plugs I bought - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000VO8PR0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I have some of those but don't like them too much. Their attenuation is unpredictable. Custom ones are more expensive but are worth it in my view. They're pretty quick and easy to get now as well. Some UK options:
https://www.bootshearingcareshop.com/CATEGORY/NOISE_PROTECTION

 

Cool, I use the high protection filters in my ear plugs all the time, better safe than sorry.

 

I hope you don't literally mean all the time. You should only ever use them where needed.

 

Yeah I just wear them when I need to, whether am at a pub, club or concert.

I even wore them to a fireworks display on Bonfire Night.

 

I think that Tinnitus is serious enough but not made public like that measles or other media pictured ailments.
Having said that and with most WAR veterans living with Tinnitus but in most cases living in misery and silence.
I believe the white House should provide via the Veterans Administration a seperate LARGE funding on research for a cure for lifelong Tinitus..... For this to take place there must be a large force of Tinnitus people
who could form city and town Tinnitus groups to send a message to washington and the VA for Tinnitus research.
I do not believe enough is being done on a world wide scale to work on a cure for Tinnitus , with all the computer and scientific capabilities out there....Most diseases have short time cures and vaccines etc but TINNITUS is a life long curse a disease of the inner ear....why do most Tinnitus people who find sleeping difficult and hearing
difficult and trying to ignore the Tinnitus noises inside their heads for a lifetime, keep them selves from complaining to the research folks and government officials that can most likely offer funding and research.