Doctors raising concerns over hearing condition tinnitus with upcoming Tinnitus Awareness Week
The World Health Organization estimates billions of young adults are at risk of hearing loss from voluntary recreational noise exposure, a fancy way of saying they’re listening to music too loud.
It can also cause tinnitus, or ringing in your ears.
Ahead of Tinnitus Awareness Week, from Feb. 6 to 12, KIRO 7 spoke to an audiologist with Hear USA, from the Puget Sound Region, about the condition and what can be done about it.
Dr. Suzanne Jackson said that millions of Americans have tinnitus or that ringing, buzzing, or persistent sound in their ear that won’t go away. Jackson said statistics show that about 10 to 15% of Americans have the condition, which adds up to about 25 million Americans.
“We live in a world where people are constantly listening to headphones or talking on cell phones pressed right up their ears, sometimes, too loud,” Jackson said.
She stresses while that could lead to Tinnitus and/or hearing loss, there are other factors that contribute to the condition.
A study from last fall by a group called BMJ Global Health found that young people are often listening too loud and for too long. Jackson said she’s seen cases with people who are just not moderating volume.
“I don’t think just listening to things through the headphones themselves is the issue, I think it’s how loud,” Jackson explained. “So, if you’re listening to something loud enough that the person sitting next to you can sing along then you want to turn that down because when it’s that loud you could cause some hearing loss.”
The World Health Organization estimates more than 430 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, a number that the group says could double if prevention is not prioritized.
Dr. Jackson says 90% of people who have tinnitus are also experiencing hearing loss, so whether it’s headphones or too many loud concerts, the bottom line is having hearing loss treated can mitigate tinnitus and that persistent sound in the ear.
