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Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
I am not a moviegoer although my wife would say I am a movie critic, but I can’t comment on the new movie “Baby Driver” because I haven’t seen it. What I can say, based on movie reviews and this online article, is that the lead character has tinnitus from head trauma in a motor vehicle crash, and he plays music constantly to mask it.
Although there are many causes of tinnitus, the most common cause is noise, with a strong correlation between noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus. Most people with tinnitus have at least some hearing loss, and half of people with hearing loss have tinnitus.
So, movie conventions aside, what’s the best way to avoid developing tinnitus? It’s simple–avoid loud noise and wear hearing protection if you can’t.
Dr. Daniel Fink is a leading noise activist based in the Los Angeles area. He serves on the board of the American Tinnitus Association, is the interim chair of Quiet Communities’s Health Advisory Council, and is the founding chair of The Quiet Coalition, an organization of science, health, and legal professionals concerned about the impacts of noise on health, environment, learning, productivity, and quality of life in America.
