Millions live with tinnitus — Here’s why it can be so hard to manage

RICHMOND, Va. (Aging Untold) — For Ken Seibert, the sound never stops.

“It sounds like when you take air out of a tire. It’s like a ‘ssssst’ type of noise,” Seibert said. “If you’re listening to music, TV, anything it can always be in the background of that.”

Seibert is among millions of Americans living with tinnitus, a persistent ringing sound. For about 20 years, he has worn hearing aids, a tool that does more than amplify sound.

“The hearing aids help me overall to live a more wonderful life, if you will. But I still always have it in the background,” Seibert said.

When to seek evaluation

Dr. Goutham Gosu, an audiologist, described tinnitus as “unwanted sound that they’re perceiving.

Aging Untold’s Dr. Rhea Rogers said persistent tinnitus is worth getting evaluated by a medical professional.

“Some people would say, well, maybe sources might be wax in the ear or an infection, but it can be associated with hearing loss sometimes. So, if you get hearing loss or sudden drooping of the face or things like that, then you want to really seek attention because you don’t know if something else is going on that brings it on,” Rogers said.

Managing the impact

Once doctors rule out serious underlying causes, Rogers said the focus shifts to managing symptoms.

“Some people just kind of live with it, but they’ve ruled out other really serious things, and when that’s the case you try to have different maneuvers or different devices to try to dampen that sound so that you can kind of live a decent life with it,” Rogers said.