Tinnitus Awareness Week 2023: What Causes Tinnitus?

Although you may not know much about it, the rate of tinnitus within the UK is rising to 1 in 7 adults.

Tinnitus is unique to the person experiencing it, but essentially it is the sensation of hearing a sound when there is no external source for that sound.  Some may hear and ringing, buzzing or other noise.  It may be permanent, or it may come and go.  For some, tinnitus is a permanent, distracting and debilitating condition.

Exposure to loud noise can damage your ears and give you tinnitus; this can happen in a variety of settings, but commonly found in noisy work environments due to long term exposure.  

If you work somewhere noisy, and the decibel level is over 80dB, you should be trained about the risks of working in that kind of environment and hearing protection should be available.   Yet surprisingly, according to Tinnitus UK, 74% of people using power tools don’t protect their ears.

This Tinnitus Awareness Week the theme is ‘when it’s loud, plug‘em!’ and Tinnitus UK are encouraging those working or living in noisy environments to protect their ears.

Another cause of Tinnitus is trauma to the head or neck, such as in a car accident, or due to perforation of the eardrum – when the eardrum itself bursts due to a sudden or prolonged burst of loud noise.

In the case of post-traumatic tinnitus and depending on the extent of the damage, tinnitus can last for varying amounts of time.  If a result of a neck or head injury the tinnitus may resolve as the injury does, however, if due to a burst eardrum it may be more permanent.

With long-term noise exposure, once the damage is done, it cannot be repaired.  There is no cure or single treatment for tinnitus, however various therapies are available to help mitigate the symptoms.

Tinnitus is often more noticeable in quiet environments, so sound therapy can be helpful.  Having some other noise, such as the TV or music playing, may help to distract you.  Sound generators can also be used, which provide natural sounds such as wind in the trees or flowing water.

If you have any kind of hearing loss this should also be corrected with the use of hearing aids, as straining to hear can make tinnitus worse.

In addition, therapies such as Tinnitus Retraining and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy have also been shown to be effective in managing the condition.

If you have suffered Tinnitus following a car accident that was not your fault, or if you work in a noisy environment and your employer has failed to provide you with adequate ear protection, you may be entitled to claim compensation.

Contact our team today for advice, or for more information and to support Tinnitus Week 2023 visit www.tinnitus.org.uk

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