Medical Questions » Ears Questions » Question No. 303
| Question: | The Australian Tinnitus Association likes to see accurate information disseminated on this topic, and our aim is to promote research, increase community awareness, and to assist persons to cope with tinnitus. |
| Answer: | Following an item I wrote in response to a reader' s question about tinnitus, I received a very useful letter from this organisation, and they enclosed a 40 page-book entitled A Layman' s Guide to Tinnitus and How to Live With It. This excellent publication is a must for all sufferers of this most annoying condition.
As a medical writer, I receive more mail about tinnitus than any other subject, and as ' real' general practitioner, I see many patients whose lives are ruined because of this extraordinarily distressing complaint, for which there is no single successful form of cure or control. Many patients can be assisted by a combination of medications, psychological help, special hearing aids (a tinnitus masker) and rarely, operations.
It is also annoying to the patient that others cannot see that s/he is suffering, because there are no outward signs of tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a noise in the ears, which may be constant or intermittent. It may consist of one particular tone or varying tones. It may be very soft, so that it only becomes noticeable at night, or so loud that it drowns out normal conversation. There are many causes for the condition, including loud noise (particularly many years' work in a noisy environment), chronic middle ear infections, arthritis and other damage to the tiny bones in the middle ear (technically called otosclerosis), Meniere' s disease (when tinnitus is associated with deafness and dizziness), viral infections (usually a temporary problem) and as a side effect of some drugs (eg. aspirin, alcohol, smoking) and ear operations.
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