by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
This report from the University of Michigan about Susan Shore PhD’s research gives hope to tinnitus sufferers that finally an effective treatment may be on the way.
Tinnitus, ringing in the ears, is most commonly caused by noise exposure, either chronic noise exposure or a one-time exposure to loud noise.
Given the causal relationship between noise exposure and both tinnitus and hyperacusis, a collapsed tolerance to usual environmental sound, many people have both. About half of those with tinnitus have significant hearing loss.
My own tinnitus developed after a one-time exposure to loud noise, so my hearing remains good. But I wish I had known that a one-time exposure to loud noise could cause symptoms the rest of my life. That’s part of the message I’m trying to get out to the world.
The other message is that both hearing loss and tinnitus are largely preventable. And certainly noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable.
Dr. Shore’s treatment is still in its experimental phase and no one can predict how much it will cost if and when it is approved by the FDA. Or, for that matter, if Medicare and private insurance programs will pay for it.
The most basic public health principle is that it’s far better, and far cheaper, to prevent illness or injury than to treat it. So while we wish Dr. Shore well, we hope those who do not yet have tinnitus, hyperacusis, or hearing loss take this sage–and free–advice:
Protect your ears! Avoid loud noise. Put in ear plugs if you can’t leave the noisy environment.
Remember, your ears are like your eyes or your knees: God only gave you two of them.
