How Treating Tinnitus Reconnects You to Family Moments

Imagine sitting around the dinner table with your family, laughter filling the air. All of a sudden, you hear a relentless ringing in your ears. It’s drowning out the voices of your loved ones. For millions of Canadian seniors living with tinnitus, this frustrating scenario is a daily reality. Tinnitus, often described as buzzing, humming, or ringing in the ears, isn’t just an annoyance, but a barrier to connection.

Yet many dismiss it as an inevitable part of aging. The good news? Addressing tinnitus isn’t just about silencing noise; it’s about reclaiming the moments that matter. In this article, we’ll explore how treating tinnitus can reconnect you to family, protect your health, and even save money in the long run. Proving that better hearing is a return on investment (ROI) worth making.

The Impact of Tinnitus on Daily Life

The National Library of Medicine reported that, as of 2018, approximately 37% of Canadians had experienced tinnitus. Tinnitus isn’t a disease, but rather an underlying condition characterized by a ringing in the ears, which can also sound like buzzing, humming, hissing, clicking, or roaring.

The sound can vary in both its pitch and volume, and can even affect both ears simultaneously. These combinations can make it more challenging to communicate with other people, often leading to social isolation, which could hinder relationships and potentially impact their mental health in the process.

These symptoms are challenging enough, yet some individuals face an even more specific form of the condition. In extreme cases, pulsatile tinnitus can occur, a rare form of the condition that can range from loud to soft. Usually caused by issues with the blood vessels near the ears, pulsatile tinnitus is timed with a person’s heartbeat.

Causes of Tinnitus

Tinnitus could be caused by various factors, including:

• Hearing loss: When the hair cells in the inner ear (cochlea) age, it can lead to hearing loss. The remaining bent or aged hair cells could then send signals to the brain, causing tinnitus.
• Noise overexposure: After attending a concert or party, when exposed to loud noises for extended periods, the hair cells in the inner ear get damaged and need time to recover. While they’re injured, the hair cells can also send signals to the brain.
• Ear infection: A buildup of fluid during an ear infection could change the pressure in the ear, causing tinnitus.
• Canal Blockage: An excess of earwax or foreign matter can cause blockage, altering the pressure in the ear, which can result in tinnitus.
• Medications: Certain medications can cause tinnitus, and if the medications that cause tinnitus become stronger, so too can the tinnitus. Luckily, once a person stops taking the drug, the tinnitus could stop.
  • Medications that are prone to causing tinnitus include, but are not limited to, aspirin, antibiotics, blood pressure medications, and chemotherapy medications.
• Injuries: A severe head or neck injury can affect the nerves of the inner ear or parts of the brain connected to it. These injuries often affect only one ear.

While these causes vary, they share a common outcome: disrupting the auditory system and creating the perception of sound where none exists externally.

The Payoff for Treating Tinnitus

When evaluating whether to treat tinnitus, it is helpful to examine three key areas that can extend far beyond simple symptom relief.

Emotional Benefits

Tinnitus can be a key indicator of hearing loss; if left untreated, it can deteriorate further and become a communication disability, with each conversation requiring more and more mental capacity, hindering how you connect with others.

Hearing loss can lead to emotional barriers, such as:

• Social isolation, especially when conversations become too overwhelming or taxing.
• Mental barriers, including depression, anxiety or even cognitive decline, could occur from hearing issues. According to a 2019 report on hearing loss, individuals with hearing loss are 47% more likely to experience symptoms of depression than those without hearing impairment.
• Stigma against treatment options, such as hearing aids or assistive technology.

Tending to your tinnitus before it deteriorates into significant communication difficulties can preserve valuable connections. Allowing you to fully participate in family conversations or enjoy your grandchildren’s laughter.

Health Benefits

Leaving your tinnitus untreated isn’t just a quality-of-life issue; it could also risk worsening and snowballing into other health problems, including:

• Dementia and Alzheimer’s: Hearing problems as we get older can make it more difficult to join in on gatherings with friends or family, leading to social withdrawal. Social isolation is one of the leading causes of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and you can help reduce your risk with proactive tinnitus treatment.
• Slips and Falls: Worsening hearing can disrupt balance, as your brain allocates more energy to hearing rather than navigating through your environment. Increasing the risk of falling down a flight of stairs or slipping while getting out of a car.
• Mental Health Decline: Avoiding social engagement is associated with hearing loss, but that lack of connection can lead to a mental health decline, which can manifest into depression or anxiety.
• Muffled sounds that aren’t external (buzzing, humming, etc)

Financial Benefits

Untreated tinnitus could potentially lead to long-term financial commitments for seniors and a strain on Canada’s healthcare system:

• Caregivers: Conditions like dementia or Alzheimer’s could be difficult to manage alone and may necessitate the need for a caregiver, a long-term financial commitment.
• Slips and Falls: The worse the hearing loss, the higher the chances of falling. And some falls could lead to severe injuries such as fractures or ligament sprains, requiring extensive medical care.
• Mental Health Treatment: Disorders such as depression and anxiety would require a tailored set of medications and therapies, including psychotherapy.

Practical Steps for Seniors and Caregivers

Whether you’re concerned that your tinnitus may have a negative effect on your ability to communicate or you’re already seeking solutions, we have a step-by-step guide for you.

1. Recognize the Signs

There are several warning signs to look out for when it comes to tinnitus. Common ones include:

• licking, hissing, roaring).
• A subtle change in hearing makes it harder to understand conversations.
• Sensitivity to noise; difficulty hearing in noisy environments.
• Fullness or pressure in the ears.

2. Know Where to Find Help

If you believe you have tinnitus, there are accessible online hearing tests available 24/7. These tests can save you time and money to find out if it’s necessary to seek medical advice from a hearing healthcare practitioner.

Or, if you’d rather skip ahead, you can visit one of the two medical professionals:

• Otolaryngologists (ENTs): Medical professionals who treat ear, nose, and throat conditions, including hearing issues.
• Hearing Care Professionals: Hearing and hearing aid specialists who can assess your hearing and recommend the best treatment options to suit your needs, which may include hearing aids

Understanding these professional options leads naturally to considering what treatments they might recommend

3. Understand Treatment Options

Even if you think you missed earlier signs of tinnitus, don’t panic; there are several ways to seek recovery. Otolaryngologists and hearing care professionals often collaborate to assist patients with hearing difficulties. If you notice signs of tinnitus or hearing loss, visiting an ear, nose, and throat specialist (ENT) first can help you identify the underlying cause.

You usually see a hearing care professional first, who can assess your hearing and recommend a referral to an ENT if further investigation is required.

Alternatively, an ENT may still recommend that you visit a hearing care professional if they believe they can diagnose your particular hearing loss, as they have different approaches to diagnosing patients.

• ENTs may prescribe medication for hearing loss, for example, if it’s caused by pulsatile tinnitus or an infection.
• Hearing Care Professionals would recommend assistive technologies, such as hearing aids or implants, to help manage symptoms of hearing loss.

4. Explore Coverage Options

If you require hearing aids or medications for hearing loss in Canada, various government grants are available, depending on your province of residence.

The government also offers treatment benefits for veterans, including devices for hearing loss.

The Priceless ROI of Clear Hearing

Tinnitus might start as a faint ringing, but its impact can ripple outward, straining relationships and mental health, as well as increasing the risk of cognitive decline and falls. The real benefit of better hearing isn’t measured in dollars alone, but the joy of understanding your grandchild’s joke without asking them to repeat it. Staying independent longer and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re safeguarding your health.

Remember: help is within reach. Whether through provincial subsidies, audiology clinics, or simple lifestyle adjustments, taking action today can reconnect you to the people and experiences that make life meaningful. After all, the greatest return on investment isn’t just financial; it’s the priceless sound of being present for the ones you love.

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About the author

Katie Koebel, M.Cl.Sc., Reg. CASLPO is an audiologist and Senior Manager of Audiology at HearingLife, Canada’s largest group of hearing centres with over 350 locations across the country. HearingLife clinics use the most advanced hearing aid technology, clinical support, and diagnostic equipment. Katie is an Audiologist registered with CASLPO and has been providing her clients with the best possible hearing health care with HearingLife for over 17 years.

If you’re at high risk of hearing damage, it is advisable to have your hearing checked regularly and advocate for proper hearing protection in your workplace. For more information on different types of hearing loss and educational resources, visit a hearing clinic near you.