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What You Should Know About Tinnitus
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What You Should Know About Tinnitus (printer-friendly version)
Tinnitus is the perception of sound where no external source exists. Those who are affected describe tinnitus as a “ringing, hissing, buzzing or whooshing,” perceived in one or both ears.
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50 million people in the United States experience tinnitus; of those, 16 million have sought medical attention for their tinnitus and 2-3 million are completely disabled from their tinnitus.
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Tinnitus is most often the result of noise exposure; either from a single impulse (extreme) noise, or cumulative exposure to noise. Head and neck injury are the second leading known cause of tinnitus.
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According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), tinnitus is the #1 service-connected disability for veterans from all periods of service – at the end of 2010, 744,000 veterans were receiving disability compensation for tinnitus alone.
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In 2010, the VA paid out over $1.1 billion to veterans for tinnitus disability compensation – at the current rate of increase, disability payments to veterans for tinnitus is expected to exceed $2.26 billion by 2014.
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Between all public and private funding combined in the U.S. for tinnitus research, there exists approximately $10 million.
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A 2007 study of 900 musicians found that at least 60% report at least occasional tinnitus.
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30 million workers are at risk for tinnitus from Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) from hazardous noise on the job.
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The Centers for Disease Control report that nearly 13% of children, ages 6-19 (5 million in the U.S.) already have some form of NIHL. This means they may also have tinnitus or they are at greater risk for developing tinnitus.
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A recent Department of Defense study on Iraq service veterans indicated that 70% of those exposed to an explosive blast reported tinnitus within the first 72 hours after the incident; 43% of those seen one month after the incident continued to report tinnitus.
- According to the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health, 85 decibels for 8 hours is considered to be “safe,” meaning it is unlikely to do damage. Note: at that level, 7-8 people out of 10 will still sustain some hearing damage.
The American Tinnitus Association exists to cure tinnitus through the
development of resources that advance tinnitus research.
