Chronic tinnitus can be menace to its victims, affecting quality of life, ability to perform on the job and a general overall life stress. Empathy for those with tinnitus can help relieve this stress experienced by chronic sufferers. Despite a lack of a cure for tinnitus, sufferers can learn to live with tinnitus and should recognize that some, though limited, options are available for treatment.
Ringing and Pain in the Ears
Tinnitus, from the Latin for "ringing," presents as the sensation of hearing in the absence of external noise. This is often experienced as a buzzing, ringing, humming or static-like noise, sometimes with an associated mild pain. The degree, persistence and severity of this effect varies greatly, depending on the causes of tinnitus to the individual. While mild, acute tinnitus is common after noise exposure such as at a loud, prolonged rock concert, chronic tinnitus can be brought on by routine exposure to occupational or environmental noises.
Loss of Hearing
On a simplified level, one can think of the inner workings of the ear as a drum or a set of tuned guitar strings. When these instruments are played with excessive force over time, they lose the tension necessary to function, become more labile and fall out of tune, failing to respond to inputs properly. Similarly, the drum and guitar sting-like machinery of the ear can fall out of tune in response to excessive inputs, leading to hearing malfunction and a persistent "ringing" or a total loss of hearing itself.
Psychological Distress
General psychological distress and depression-like symptoms are not uncommon to tinnitus sufferers. While the effects of tinnitus themselves are stress-inducing, the burden of trying to function in society with impaired hearing is also difficult, leading to an inability to work or participate in family situations. While the effects of tinnitus may last for several years, most sufferers find tinnitus as a persistent annoyance that they eventually learn to live with, like mild chronic pain. Many severe tinnitus patients have reported thoughts of suicide; however, tinnitus, even in its most extreme cases, is rarely a root cause for suicide.
Lack of Sleep
Chronic tinnitus often interferes with an individual's sleeping patterns, making it not only difficult to fall asleep, but to maintain the sleep necessary for normal cognitive function. This lack of restfulness is often a leading cause of other major effects of tinnitus such as headaches, nausea and depression. Interesting, many chronic tinnitus sufferers often report that they only notice tinnitus when in complete silence, such as at bedtime. If this is the case, it may be helpful to generate background noise such as soft music or sounds of nature such as water flowing or ocean sounds.
