Tinnitus is often described as whistling, buzzing or ringing in the ears. For people who suffer from extremely loud tinnitus, it can be difficult to hear speech above the noise of the tinnitus, making it hard to follow conversations. It is important to be aware of what causes tinnitus and what can make it worse.

Here are five things that are known to make tinnitus worse and our top tips for dealing with them.

This week, as part of Tinnitus Week, we are shining a spotlight on different aspects and effects of tinnitus.

Millions of people suffer from tinnitus, the perception of sound which has no acoustic source, which is often described as a ringing, pulsating, clicking or buzzing in the ears. For some people, tinnitus may be short-lived and cause merely a mild irritation, but for millions of others, tinnitus can be constant, causing anxiety or depression.

This week is ‘Tinnitus Week,’ which aims to raise awareness of the condition that affects approximately 1 in 10 people. Here’s how you can get involved.

An estimated 25 million adults in the US have experienced tinnitus lasting at least 5 minutes in the past year, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. For some people, tinnitus may be an occasional occurrence, but for many people, it can be debilitating, causing disruption to sleep, anxiety and depression.

This article was adapted from a Q&A interview with Sam Baker, by musician Stu Nunnery. 

In 1986, Texan musician Sam Baker was traveling on a train to Machu Picchu in Peru.  He had no idea that the Shining Path guerrilla group placed a bomb on the luggage rack just above his head. The bomb exploded killing seven passengers. Baker was left with numerous injuries, including ruptured ear drums.

In that instance, his life changed forever.

A new study shows that certain forms of tinnitus – a persistent ringing or buzzing sound in the ears – may be hereditary.

Men, in particular, may be more prone to experience bilateral tinnitus because of their genetics, according to the study conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the European research network TINNET.

Hearing loss is an especially unique and tragic experience for anyone who enjoys listening to music, playing an instrument or singing, as part of their daily rituals or professional career.

Most of us carry in our muscles and memories  a library of musical sounds, melodies, rhythms, phrases, motifs, and lyrics from simple folk tunes to classical and every modern popular musical form. We depend on music to provide familiar, comforting, exciting, memorable, life-changing, direct and background touches to our lives.

After hearing loss, music can become painful to listen to, distorted, out of pitch, excessively loud and/or soft. Mixed with tinnitus, as it often is, recapturing music in our lives poses daunting challenges and few promises from the experts.

Fortunately today, the issues of music and hearing loss are more and more being taken up by specialists in the hearing fields.

How often do you take anti-inflammatory drugs or antibiotics? Did you know that some commonly prescribed drugs have the potential to damage your hearing or temporarily worsen tinnitus? 

Not every medical practitioner can be an expert on the side effects of every medication they prescribe, but it never ceases to amaze me when a physician, knowing the severity of my hearing loss, prescribes medication that I later discover is ototoxic. (Or one that potentially “may cause tinnitus,” or where hearing loss is listed as a contraindication.)

There’s an old saying: “forewarned is forearmed,” and I’ve applied that to educating myself about commonly prescribed drugs and their potential side-effects.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

Christmas is the perfect time to indulge loved ones and show them how much you care. Wouldn’t it be nice to give an extra thoughtful present to a friend or relative with hearing loss this Christmas? We thought we’d take a look at some gift ideas for people with hearing loss.

Some people with hearing loss say that with their sense of hearing impaired, their other senses are enhanced. With this luxury gift guide, we’re focusing on the senses of sight, taste, touch, and smell. There’s something for everyone!

I have suffered from tinnitus since I was 7 years old, and I always thought there was nothing I could do about it… until I got hearing aids. 

I remember first noticing my tinnitus when I was watching TV one day and my left ear sounded like it had a drum beating away inside it. It came and went periodically, but wasn’t something I was forced to think about often.

By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, the tinnitus had significantly worsened to the point where I was regularly distressed and began to struggle with everyday activities. Sitting in the wrong part of the classroom at school would lead to a trigger from the road traffic or the boys’ breaking voices. The joy of playing in the local orchestra was overridden by the need to find the precise place I could sit in relation to the cellos and double basses.