What is tinnitus?

As our daily lives become increasingly noisy, most of us will at some point experience a buzzing or ringing in the ears, especially after exposure to loud noise.

Although this is a temporary problem for most people, nearly 5 million people in the UK live with these noises, known as tinnitus, to varying degrees. In some cases, symptoms can be severe and permanent, causing acute anxiety and distress.

The way people experience tinnitus varies enormously – the perceived loudness can be anything from a whisper to a roar; it can be either constant or intermittent and may be experienced in one or both ears.

Although a relatively small percentage of the population is aware of tinnitus, head noises are actually thought to be experienced by nearly everyone. In the early 1950s a series of experiments were carried out into tinnitus involving 80 people with normal hearing. After being placed in a soundproofed room for five minutes, 93% reported hearing tinnitus sounds, although none had previously complained of tinnitus.