North Yorks teacher warns of tinnitus risk factors

Secondary school teacher Anne Smith of Castleton, North Yorkshire, developed tinnitus one evening after supervising pupils at a noisy school disco. Although Anne's GP initially attributed the high-pitched ringing to an ear infection; after taking antibiotics, the ringing unfortunately persisted and Anne was diagnosed with tinnitus.

“I don't hear quite as well as I used to, which can be a problem as classrooms are not the quietest of places and it's sometimes difficult to focus on what someone is saying unless everyone else is silent. I can deal with it most of the time but I wish I didn't have it. I had no idea what it was at first and although people know that tinnitus exists, I don't think there is much awareness about it.”

Anne's doctor has been understanding and keen to suggest possible treatments but nothing has been particularly effective so far. ”I've tried just about everything and had very high hopes of acupuncture last year but it didn't really help,” she said.

Now Anne, 62, is learning to live with her tinnitus, finding ways to relegate the symptom to the back of her mind. “Luckily I don't have problems sleeping, it's in the day when it affects me more, especially in quiet environments but also if I am unwell or I have sinus problems, but I can ignore it by concentrating on other things.

“I tend to have the radio on most of the time at home. Once on a holiday in Spain, the sounds almost disappeared, but this was the only time it happened. I know I may have tinnitus now for the rest of my life and think we need to make more people aware of the problem so that they can try to avoid possible triggers in the first place.

In particular Anne urges others to avoid excessive exposure to noise. “Everything seems to be so loud nowadays but people don't realise what sort of problems might develop in the future and tinnitus is not something you'd want anyone else to experience.”