The music festival season has just begun, an opportunity to talk about tinnitus, this unpleasant sensation of ringing ears, which affects eight million French people.
Martin Ducret, doctor and journalist at Daily Doctor, evokes today this evil which concerns eight million French people and which is called tinnitus.
franceinfo: What exactly is tinnitus?
Martin Ducret: Tinnitus is noise heard in one or both ears – it can be a hissing, buzzing, or crackling sound. This noise or these noises are not due to a sound that comes from the outside world, but by the hyperactivity of a group of cells in the inner ear.
Tinnitus can be transient, permanent or fluctuating. The perceived noise can disappear and come back, it can happen suddenly or more gradually, it can be very weak or on the contrary very loud – this noise is moreover perceived more intensely in silence – and certain circumstances favor its appearance, such as fatigue, stress or exposure to noise.
Is exposure to noise the main cause of tinnitus?
Yes, this is one of the main causes. The first, in fact, is the natural aging of the inner ear which manifests itself from the age of 50, this is called presbycusis, and it corresponds to a progressive loss of hearing, i.e. say deafness.
Then, indeed, it is the exposure to noise that can cause tinnitus, either a sudden exposure such as an explosion, or a prolonged exposure, such as listening to a concert too close to the speakers. Often the cause is not found, and in rare cases the tinnitus does not come from the ear, but from another organ.
In case of tinnitus, do you necessarily have to consult an ear specialist, an ENT specialist?
Not necessarily, the majority of tinnitus is transient. But in case of persistent tinnitus or with associated symptoms, such as hearing loss, yes, you should consult a specialist.
How is persistent tinnitus treated?
If the treatment of the cause is not sufficient, we will have to learn to live with this unpleasant sound. Not always easy in a quiet atmosphere, at bedtime for example. But fortunately, we can teach our ears to no longer fixate on this noise. The idea is to counterbalance the tinnitus with another sound, for example putting on a little background noise, when going to bed. In some cases, the tinnitus is just too loud and a hearing aid that provides sounds around the tinnitus frequency can help.
Finally, an important element, prevention! Remember to protect your ears, in case of prolonged exposure to noise, by wearing headphones or earplugs.