York man hopes to help tinnitus sufferers

Stephen Harrison, 35, who lives in York, developed tinnitus in his 20s after a bout of flu, but believes it was probably due to exposure to loud noise as it was diagnosed alongside a slight hearing loss.

He suspects that working without hearing protection on construction sites as well as weekends spent clubbing are to blame for the varying frequencies of tinnitus he experiences in each ear.

When he sought help while living in Brighton he feels he was passed through the system with no care or real treatment offered. “I was pretty much told to learn to live with it, but I knew absolutely nothing about tinnitus when it was diagnosed. Tinnitus is more often associated with older people but I think more awareness of it is needed amongst the young, particularly when a common cause is exposure to loud noise. ”

Stephen found that with tinnitus he could sleep fairly well, but no longer enjoy the luxury of snoozing. “As soon as I was awake, I could hear the noise so dropping back to sleep didn’t happen anymore.” He also found noise aggravated his tinnitus; particularly things like driving. In social situations he enjoyed the fact that his tinnitus was masked by sounds but like many found it much worse at quiet times. “The main aggravation to my tinnitus is actually exercise”, he says. “I find it gets louder especially after doing weights, but keeping fit is my priority so I am not going to stop.”

Although initially Stephen tried white noise generators, they didn’t seem to benefit him and the devices were uncomfortable to wear. Now, although his tinnitus has worsened slightly he says it is his increased habituation to it that is helping him to cope. He says that his tinnitus has actually made him more positive and drives him on to achieve things. “Early on I felt quite down at the thought of hearing this noise for the rest of my life but then I made a conscious decision to pull myself out of this negativity, to look forward, learn to live with tinnitus and not be plagued by it. This has made me push on with my career and achieve things.”

Stephen currently works as a Health and Safety Consultant in Bradford and previously spent five years as a Health and Safety Manager in construction and petroleum. He says his work now frequently crosses over with his tinnitus as he finds himself talking to people on site about ear protection. “It brings home the importance of wearing ear protection when you explain your own experience of tinnitus and the lack of a cure or even good medical support,” he says.

As a musician, Stephen has for some time been exploring the possibility of recording a tinnitus therapy CD to help fellow sufferers. I have spoken to other sufferers and have an idea of what noises soothe people in general so it's a new year’s resolution to produce a CD of sorts this year.”