Hear, hear

Personalised treatments and “switched-on” tech promise to help bring relief to tinnitus sufferers.

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If you hear buzzing, ringing, whistling, chirping, humming, roaring or even shrieking sounds in your ears, you are not alone. About 6% of New Zealanders live with the problem – known as tinnitus – and it tends to be more of an issue as we age, with the highest prevalence occurring among men over 65. Meanwhile, new research from Australia has found that a quarter of the workforce there suffers from tinnitus, with farmers, automotive workers, transport drivers, construction workers and other tradespeople at greatest risk, according to survey results from the Curtin School of Population Health in Perth.

“Tinnitus is incredibly common,” says Grant Searchfield, director of the University of Auckland’s Hearing and Tinnitus Clinic.

“It’s one of the highest prevalence sensory disabilities. And it can range from being a very slight complaint to one that is quite catastrophic and disabling.”

Some people’s brains seem able to suppress these unwanted phantom sounds, while others suffer greatly. UK musician Craig Gill, a drummer in the band Inspiral Carpets, was so depressed by his chronic and debilitating tinnitus that he ended his life in 2016. Researchers are now learning more about the mechanisms of the condition and developing better ways to treat it.

“There are a number of different things that can cause the onset of tinnitus,” explains Searchfield. “The sound itself generally begins with an injury to the ear that starts a cascade of changes within the auditory system.”