After a hard week’s work, near the end of the day at my office, a middle-aged man came in looking very tired. He seemed concerned, his eyes were very red and he swayed slightly from side to side. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week. Mister Zé Alfredo sat down and said:
- Doctor, I can’t sleep anymore. There’s too much noise. A terrible buzzing sound. It never stops! It’s driving me crazy … (silence) … Can you destroy my hearing? I don’t want to hear anymore. To tell you the truth, the way things are now, I don’t want to go on living.
For me, a person who loves researching the auditory system and the details of its functioning, his words seemed incompatible with reality. How could hearing, the only sense capable of sending information from far away in a 360º circle, be so despised by this individual?
Buzzing in the ear affects more than 28 million Brazilians, most of whom are adults over the age of 40 (click here to see report). A host of infections, metabolic disorders, diabetes, hypertension, perforated ear drum, etc. are only some of the likely causes of buzzing. Despite the difficulty in accurately diagnosing its origin – some types are of unknown origin – all is not lost, because most cases are treatable.
Buzzing can be treated
Believe it or not, turning on the radio or the television (not too loud) may help people with mild cases to sleep, at least until they get specialized treatment from an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor. Treatment is wide ranging, from antibiotics and mineral replacement to auditory rest and changes in food habits, depending on the etiology. In the most severe cases and those of unknown origin, patients are referred to a speech therapist for adaptation therapy, after which they “no longer notice” the buzzing.
Recommended reading:
1. Ringing and Other Ear Noise
Author: Pedro de Lemos Menezes
Email: pedrodelemosmenezes@gmail.com
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