Tinnitus strikes harsh chord with sufferers

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For millions of Americans, silence has a sound that can be unpleasant at best, debilitating at worst.

It’s an incessant ringing in their ears, a high-pitched tone that just won’t go away day or night.

An estimated 50 million people in the U.S. experience tinnitus. About 16 million have it bad enough to seek medical attention, and some 2 million people suffer so badly, they cannot function normally, according to the American Tinnitus Association.

Most often caused by overexposure to loud noises, the symptom commonly affects military personnel, firefighters and musicians. Famous sufferers include William Shatner, Barbra Streisand and Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am.

New Jersey musician and music lover Roland de Castro remembers the exact day it entered his life.

It was Jan. 4, 2006 and de Castro had been out at a club the night before, where the music was so loud it bothered him more than usual.

“I figured as I get older, I’ll lose a little hearing,” he said. “Never did I expect to gain this noise that never goes away.”

Not only did it not go away, but it also wouldn’t let him sleep. Worse, doctors told him there was nothing they could do.

“I had some horrible thoughts about taking the easy way to end it. But you learn to cope with it,” said de Castro, now 33.

De Castro sought guidance from a tinnitus support group, which helped him cope, especially with the sleepless nights, and he started wearing ear plugs to protect himself from loud noise.

He switched career tracks and returned to school to become a registered nurse. After a four-year hiatus from concerts, de Castro cautiously started going again, this time protected by custom-fitted musicians’ ear plugs with a filter designed to block high-frequency sounds.

Gannett News Service