Noel Cullen
His knowledge in communication disorders has helped a wide range of patients, including both adults and children with hearing loss. He provides screenings, hearing tests, aural rehabilitation and has an extensive knowledge of both conventional and digital hearing instruments.
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Researchers believe that there is a direct link between tinnitus and stress.
Tinnitus is more than doubly prevalent in persons who are under stress or are burnt out than in other people. This is shown by a study from The Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
In the study, the test persons were exposed to stressful situations, for example answering questions while at the same time being interrupted. After the test, blood tests were taken as were new hearing tests. The blood tests tested for levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone which is activated in stressful situations and animal tests have shown that cortisol affects hearing.
“We found that tinnitus is 2.5 times more prevalent in people who are under long-term stress,” says Professor Barbera Canlon, who was one of the people leading the research.
Perceiving sound poorly
There was also a clear tendency showing that sound recognition and the ability to perceive spoken numbers in noise was worse in the group of stressed subjects than in other people, says Barbera Canlon.
According to Barbera Canlon, this is the first time that it can be proven that long-term stress has an effect on hearing.
“It is important to consider long-term stress and the risk of burnout when treating tinnitus and over-sensitivity to sound,” says Barbera Canlon.
The researchers surmise, that tinnitus and stress react together in that stress can lead to tinnitus and tinnitus can lead to stress. If you have any questions about Tinnitus contact your audiologist at Hidden Hearing.
Source: Used by permission of www.hear-it.org
