When Caroline Fitton’s husband was diagnosed with cancer, she never imagined the news could result in her developing an incurable condition of her own.
“Back in 2004 my husband Graham had a late-stage diagnosis of prostate cancer which had spread,” says Caroline, who was in her mid-40s at the time. “It was clearly very stressful and around then I developed this frequent ringing sound in my ears. At night when there was little other noise about, I became really aware of it.”
Caroline who had never worried about her hearing, and didn’t feel she had spent too much time in loud environments, was very surprised by the explanation she received at her local doctor’s surgery. “My GP said it sounded like a classic case of tinnitus, and that it can be closely linked to stress, which was definitely how I was feeling at the time,” Caroline, 67, says.
According to the charity Tinnitus UK, one in three people in the UK will have it at some point in their lives. Although symptoms vary, it’s characterised by an internal sound – buzzing, hissing or another noise – which does not come from an external source and can affect one or both ears. It can be episodic, but for about 10 per cent of those living with it, the sound is constant.
Most people assume the condition is caused by exposure to loud noises, but many experts believe stress and anxiety can also cause it. While there’s no conclusive evidence yet, it’s thought they exacerbate existing symptoms by making them more noticeable.
Audiologist Michael Marchant says: “Stress can trigger physiological changes including increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure. These changes can not only increase the perception of tinnitus, but prolonged high blood pressure can harm the delicate blood vessels within the inner ear, leading to often irreversible damage to the hair cells which is known as sensorineural hearing loss.
“Additionally, high blood pressure can increase the risk of other conditions which can contribute to hearing loss, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”
Although it cannot be cured, tinnitus can often be managed with relaxation or distraction techniques. Caroline, from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was referred to an NHS tinnitus clinic for a diagnosis and advice. A full hearing check found she also had a slight hearing loss.
“I hadn’t really been aware of any loss but I was given a pair of very clunky, uncomfortable hearing aids,” which she admits she mostly avoided wearing. “I hated them as they hurt my ears and felt I didn’t really need them as my hearing wasn’t that bad.”
Slowly she learned to “accept” her tinnitus. “The clinic explained I should try to relax more by slowing my breathing and suggested distracting myself with music or other sounds in the background so I didn’t focus on the ringing. “I’d listen to the radio in bed while drifting off to sleep or go for a walk to relax if it was really bad,” says Caroline, whose husband Graham died in 2007. “At times, the more aggrieved I was with it, the worse it got. At others I wasn’t so conscious of it and it seemed to melt away.”
For the past 10 years Caroline has been an officer for conservation charity The Wildlife Trusts. It was while at work she realised how much her hearing had deteriorated. “When I worked in a nature reserve, visitors would ask me what bird was making a particular sound,” she says. “I’d often struggle to register it as it was too high pitched. I literally couldn’t hear it.
“Two years ago I realised I had to do something about it. On a driving holiday to France with friends, I got very embarrassed because I was constantly saying ‘pardon?’ in the car. So instead I simply replied ‘yes’ or nodded, putting up with missing lots of the conversation. I found it very upsetting.”
Back home, a hearing aid expert found she had developed a 40 per cent hearing loss in each ear. She started wearing new, discreet hearing aids which improved her hearing and helped make her less aware of her tinnitus.
Caroline’s experience is far from uncommon. Twelve million adults in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss or have tinnitus.
Michael Marchant, who is a member of the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists, says: “Many people in their 50s and older struggle to hear birds singing and it’s often an early sign they might have some hearing loss.
“It’s those higher pitched sounds which some birds make that can be difficult to hear as we age. You might also struggle with children’s voices or household devices making a ‘beeping’ sound for example.”
For Caroline, her new hearing aids brought a huge improvement. “The contrast when I’m wearing the hearing aids is amazing,” she says. “I realised how much I was missing in everyday life. When the audiologist first switched one on, it was like putting on your glasses and suddenly the world’s not so fuzzy.”
Caroline was invited to take part in a video for the latest Love Yours Ears campaign which ties in with Deaf Awareness Week which begins tomorrow. One of its messages is if you’re in your 50s and struggle to hear birds singing when you’re out and about, it could be a sign you need a hearing test.
During filming, Caroline went at first light into the New Forest to listen to the dawn chorus with Springwatch presenter David Lindo, who is deaf in one ear after catching mumps as a child so also wears a hearing aid.
“The dawn chorus is an amazing thing,” says David, who’s also known as the Urban Birder. “As a young guy I was worried that one day I might not be able to hear it because when you hit the big 5-0, and maybe even before then, hearing loss can make birdsong harder to hear. It’s especially so with high-pitched or a ‘squeaky’ call like that of a goldcrest, grasshopper warbler and long-tailed tit.”
Caroline is thrilled to be able to enjoy the sounds of the natural world again. “I don’t think there’s the same stigma about hearing aids as once there was,” she says. “I now can’t imagine not wearing them.
“Listening to birdsong properly was something I couldn’t do for years. I can now also answer those visitor questions without looking blank when they ask, ‘what bird’s making that sound?’”
International Dawn Chorus Day is on May 5. Deaf Awareness Week begins on May 6. The Love Your Ears awareness campaign is run by high-street hearing specialist Hidden Hearing. To listen to birdsong that can be hard to hear when you have hearing loss or to try a free online hearing test, visit hiddenhearing.co.uk/love-your-ears
