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Tinnitus Prevalence

December 6, 2011 21 Comments

Our internal survey will likely show similar results (can’t release until we publish), but this is a much more comprehensive survey…Jennifer Born is a tireless advocate for tinnitus, her name is all over good projects…

 

Summary of Findings

  • The size of the tinnitus population in the United States is nearly 30 million people—or about 10%.
  • 13 million people report they have tinnitus but not hearing loss. However, it is widely acknowledged that people with tinnitus almost always have hearing loss. Therefore, it is likely that the hearing loss population is conceivably higher than previously reported.
  • The incidence of tinnitus is as high as 26.7% for people ages 65-84 years.
  • The prevalence of tinnitus is correlated with degree of hearing loss; however, it is clear that all levels of hearing loss (mild to severe) can experience tinnitus.
  • Nearly 4 in 10 people experience their tinnitus >80% of the time during a typical day; slightly more than 1 in 4 people describe their tinnitus as loud; and about 1 in 5 describe their tinnitus as disabling or nearly disabling.
  • Subjects with tinnitus report their tinnitus primarily impacts their ability to hear (39%), concentrate (26%), and sleep (20%).
  • Of the nine tinnitus treatment methods assessed, none were tried by more than 7% of the subjects. Treatment methods rated with substantial tinnitus amelioration were hearing aids (34%) and music (30%).
  • In a direct query of hearing aid efficacy, 27.8% of hearing aid users reported receiving moderate-to-substantial reduction in their tinnitus when using their hearing aids. About 2 out of 3 people experienced tinnitus relief most of the time to all of the time, while 3 out of 10 (29%) reported that the use of hearing aids alleviated their tinnitus all of the time.
  • Subjects who had their hearing aids fit by professionals using comprehensive hearing aid fitting protocols are nearly twice as likely to experience tinnitus relief than respondents fit by hearing care professionals using minimalist hearing aid fitting protocols.
  • Almost one-quarter of those with tinnitus describe their tinnitus as disabling or nearly disabling. There is currently no cure. This study confirms that the provision of hearing aids offers substantial benefit to a significant number of people suffering from tinnitus. This fact should be more widely acknowledged in both the audiological and medical communities.

The full article can be found here…

http://www.hearingreview.com/issues/articles/2011-11_01.asp

 

Impact of Tinnitus on Quality of Life

 

 

 

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  • Anonymous

    Thank you Will, it’s hard to get precise data related to tinnitus prevalence… “guesstimates” figures vary widely.

  • HOWARD

    Will, I don’t often blog but I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for one of my best Christmas gifts, hope.

          Have a Merry Christmas and very happy New Year 

  • Pete

    Will, many people have tinnitus with ‘normal’ threshold hearing.  It’s believed there are auditory nerve fibers that respond mostly to the higher sound volumes and it’s been physically measured (in humans) at higher sound volumes that there is deafferentation in tinnitus cases with normal audiograms.  The latest paper on this is by Roland Schaette at UCL.  Nathan Weisz also found this.  A study with mice came to a similar conclusion (Kujawa and Liberman).
    I can confirm the above as I’m one of those cases.
    Thanks for your research and best wishes.

  • Jin_sora

    i have tinnitus just a few days ago and it makes me really scared and depress! how can i enjoy my christmas and new years with this ringing in my ears!

  • Adtin

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062837/Rock-music-fan-Robert-McIndoes-tinnitus-drove-stabbed-death-despair.html

    Another one to add to the list. Will, please get this cure to us as soon as you can.

  • tim dunphy

    my tinnitus of over 20 years causes severe disorientation and it’s very difficult to function. I live with a persistent choking sensation that I need to suppress. I can’t imagine living with this for another year so I hope this happens in 2012.

  • Jeffrey_hinkel

    Will;…….Please hurry……..I have severe tinnitus and severe insomnia consequently;……I’m loosing weight from it  and I’m worried that my time is near.  My tinnitus is louder than any ambient sound and results from many years of  ”enjoying” loud music and recreating concert experiences.I’m only 51 years old.  Currently , I’m in touch with the Oregon Health and Sciences University hoping for some  treatment which can  help me cope with this but people like me need something that will be highly effective. How soon will you know if this technique is going to work and can the average guy ( without health insurance in my case ) get one…….Also, I wanted to offer myself for any  trials,and/or experiments you may be conducting.I know it a long-shot but I hope you reply with something hopeful………Jeff Hinkel
                                                                                        jeffrey_hinkel@yahoo.com

  • tim dunphy

    there is a category of people with this disease that are considered ‘disabled’. A question I have is ‘how can one live day to day if completely disabled by tinnitus’? One must simply live. Endure. I don’t have the option of not working so I do my best to live each day. The one and only reason I am not considered ‘disabled’ by this disease is because I do not submit. I press on. However others are not kind in reminding me that I have a terrible affliction because there is no way for me to hide it. I can speak barely above a whisper at this stage and have trouble completing the simplest tasks due to severely degraded motor skills. I no longer drive and take only public transportation or get rides. All of this is from an unbearably loud sound which completely fills my head. Therapy has taught me that there is no way for me to communicate this state to anyone so even tho people are rude about what they perceive as my weakness I constantly remind myself that ‘they do not and cannot understand’ and forgive them. However I sincerely need this treatment you’ve discovered to be made available to me. I don’t know if I can go on with this for the foreseeable future.

    Thanks and best wishes,
    tim

  • Denisewhiddon

    Thank you for your diligence in finding a cure for this common but life changing disablility.  I am writing this at 2:45 A.M.  I awoke and now cannot go back to sleep for the ringing in my ears.  Too many years listening to Janis Joplin and Led Zepplin at a high volume.   I live in the Metroplex and would gladly volunteer for your clinical trials.  I understand that our Military men and women should definitely get precedence.  

    Bless you and know that many are anxious for you to succeed in your findings.

    Sincerely,
    Denise Whiddon
    Weatherford, Texas

    January 14, 2012

  • Ben_neel

    I would do just about anything to stop this ringing.  It is driving me nuts.

  • http://www.facebook.com/billmatt1 Bill Matthews

    Thanks for your good work. I experienced debilitating tinnitus for more than two years. Audiologists and ENT doctors said they couldn’t help. On internet search, I found “the best site” at T-Gone Remedies, ordered two of their medications, one for damage, other for “sinus and allergy induced tinnitus.” The second brought relief over a few weeks’ time, have had near-complete relief for more than three years. The formulary is described on the label as “Homeopathic Lactose/Sucrose tablets.” Occasional recurrence has likewise responded to short-term use from my “stock,” with relief within a few days each time.

  • tim dunphy

    I have over time reached out to several drug based tinnitus therapy programs over the years and described my symptoms to them as I have to you. The reply I got back from each was the same and the one that sticks in my mind the most is “I know your symptoms are very frustrating. But we cannot help you”.

    Thank you for giving me hope.

  • guest__

    I dont know how writes these articles. Ive never been asked. I visited few doctors and I got no information at all. Ive been learning by myself, and now my tinnitus is very high because I thought “tinnitus” was nothing, as I didnt see any concern on any of the doctor’s face.
    Now, after newarly three years with it, I’m very upset about how I was told :”you will learn how to live with it, dont worry”. The thing is, I havent learnt anything, I just suffer and that’s it. However, I hope someday I can live normally again. But dont know when.
    Some people say, life is too short, so we need to enjoy it. Im 27 and since Ive got this, these 3 years have been 300  tough years of fight just to not give up the fight.
    Hope we get good news someday.

    • tim dunphy

      The response I got from my audiologist was a kindly smile and the advice “make friends with it”. That was over 20 years ago. Every one of those years it’s gotten worse. Every year I tell myself “it can’t possibly get/be any worse than this”. And then each year, it is.

      • Whatevernen

        Hi Tim, Ive read your first post. Can’t you get any sort of “sick leave” in the USA? I see what you mean when people dont understand all you’ve been through because of your tinnitus. I get the same replay by people I tried to explain to. Now, I just dont bother to explain as it makes me feel worst. (some close relatives have advided me to visit the psiquiatrist…. well, I dont see the relation ship, and it makes me feel even more powerless.)
        20 years with it… In my opinion, people like you are heroe! seriously. 
        I dont see myself living in the future with this situation. I would like not to say it, but that’s how I feel.
        You may give us some advice, if you have any, to help people like me to try to keep the chin up. 
        regards

        • tim dunphy

          hey there thanks for your reply. Well sick leave is simply not an option for the unexplainable. I do appreciate the compliment however I simply am not any sort of hero. I reserve that assessment to those who are attempting to cure this ailment. I think the best advice is not to seek out individual therapy but rather I’ve heard good things about group therapy for tinnitus sufferers. That might be your best option.

          Cheers,
          Tim

          • tim dunphy

            Also I should say that I am somewhat able to to my job. But learning is a key component in what I do and the way that I learn is most definitely not the way that other people learn and comprehend who don’t have this problem. I keep missing little but important details and that really sucks. This is why it’s very difficult for me to hold jobs because my lack of ability to focus frustrates the hell out of me and (more importantly) my bosses.

  • Lotusflow3r

    Dear Mr. Rosselini. I have just learnt about your research and the hope it gives us all. I just wanted to say thank you for that hope, for your work, for the possible outcome that may change millions of lives, including mine.

  • guest

    Please, don’t let the trials be delayed. A year is a very long time when you are suffering with tinnitus. I’m willing to pay almost any price to get the silence back.

  • Tim Dunphy

    I may work for a great company.. but I am regarded as a bumbling moron here. clearly. there is genuine confusion amongst the staff here as to why I look and act this way. there is of course no way to describe this experience so I don’t try. and tho this job is an amazing opportunity it like any other job I’ve had is in danger by from the effects of tinnitus .. it’s so damn frustrating..the sound in my head is a raging fury that has built up over a 20 year period. All I can do at this point is tell myself that I was not born this way, I remember being normal and that there is hope for a return to normalcy somewhere on the horizon and it is within reach. I apologize for using this forum to vent my frustration but I see no alternative.

    • Tim Dunphy

      And if I have to lose this job due in large part to my disability, then that’s just the way it is. I hate using the internet instead of tissue paper to cry about my problems. If I have to work at a menial job until this treatment becomes available, it ain’t the end of the world. In the end, I’m a survivor. That’s how I’ve lasted over 20 years with this condition.

      Thanks
      tim