Tinnitus Is Not a Disease In and Of Itself, Rather a Symptom

[David S]

Oh I just so strongly disagree with this...

It's like saying the paralyzation of spinal cord damage is not a disease but just a symptom of nerve damage. Or eye glaucoma that could lead to blindness is not a disease but just a symptom of damage to the central nerve in eye.

For many years it was thought that gastric ulcer was because psychological reasons (stress). Now everybody knows that it is the result of a bacteria and is very much treatable.

I've had severe tinnitus for almost 5 years. I am sad to say that a large portion of my close family still thinks that my tinnitus is mostly related to that I would be more psychologically vulnerable then the others. Meaning the my tinnitus is a symptom of my psychological weakness, and I cannot really blame them. If your hearing test comes out fine, then there really is no objectives to point at. If there is no underlying cause to point at, then you are dismissed.

It is about time for tinnitus itself to be classified as a disease and that it truly can ruin people's lives (even those who are psychologically strong).

Even if our technology is not yet sophisticated enough to detect nerve damage in these enormously tiny structures, we need this to be accepted for what it is. Nerve damage!

 

[Michael B]

When you look up the definition of disease, it doesn't appear to fit the category.
A disease is a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury. I think it's safe to say that tinnitus is the result of some form of injury.

That said, I agree with you that tinnitus is not the result of psychological weakness. Stupidity in my case, but not weakness.

 

[coffee_girl]

In my case tinnitus is the result of carelessness and irresponsibility, I should never have stayed in that tiny concert hall for as long as I did. I don't know if I could blame anything else but myself in these circumstances. That's what makes tinnitus so shameful for noise induced sufferers, people feel we did it to ourselves.

 

[dpdx]

In my case tinnitus is the result of carelessness and irresponsibility, I should never have stayed in that tiny concert hall for as long as I did. I don't know if I could blame anything else but myself in these circumstances. That's what makes tinnitus so shameful for noise induced sufferers, people feel we did it to ourselves.

yup, I agree with you. I pissed my life away and I had it all...shame.

 

[Tinker Bell]

My tinnitus is a symptom of hearing loss. I would not have tinnitus if I had not lost hearing.

 

[JohnAdams]

my shitnitus coincided with a loud noise exposure.

 

[Bill_]

Whats even more important: It doesn't even matter on a practical scale. Did you burn your hand because the fire was hot or because you put your hand where the fire was? Doesn't matter - outcome's the same!

 

[jasonbourne]

What are you talking about man? Its all about the reaction, which is why sound torture is never used by the cia etc. Anyone can just habituate to it. You have to be very mentally weak to not withstand heavy metal playing at 90db for 24 hours straight.

I mean, have you ever heard of Chinese water torture? These mentally weak people cant handle a drop of water every 5 seconds! Its a symptom.

 

[Tinniger]

I think there's been a misunderstanding.

I believe that tinnitus is a symptom, but by no means an expression of psychological weakness.

Just as, for example, I consider headaches to be a symptom, a symptom of many different diseases, from migraine to brain tumours.

The fact that something is a symptom does not mean that it is not a disease that causes it.

The fact that not all the causes leading to tinnitus have been understood nowadays does not mean that it is not just a symptom.

 

[jjflyman]

What are you talking about man? Its all about the reaction, which is why sound torture is never used by the cia etc. Anyone can just habituate to it. You have to be very mentally weak to not withstand heavy metal playing at 90db for 24 hours straight.

Jason I hope you're just kidding around.

The CIA uses sound all the time to break suspects, and nobody can habituate to loud sound, it eventually causes damage.

 

[JohnAdams]

tinnitus is a symptom

 

[Michael B]

Whats even more important: It doesn't even matter on a practical scale. Did you burn your hand because the fire was hot or because you put your hand where the fire was? Doesn't matter - outcome's the same!

I heard a specialist say the reason there aren't more treatment options is because tinnitus is a symptom and not a cause. Diseases can be treated, symptoms are more difficult, particularly when it comes to tinnitus because there are many causes.

 

[david c]

Oh I just so strongly disagree with this...

It's like saying the paralyzation of spinal cord damage is not a disease but just a symptom of nerve damage. Or eye glaucoma that could lead to blindness is not a disease but just a symptom of damage to the central nerve in eye.

For many years it was thought that gastric ulcer was because psychological reasons (stress). Now everybody knows that it is the result of a bacteria and is very much treatable.

I've had severe tinnitus for almost 5 years. I am sad to say that a large portion of my close family still thinks that my tinnitus is mostly related to that I would be more psychologically vulnerable then the others. Meaning the my tinnitus is a symptom of my psychological weakness, and I cannot really blame them. If your hearing test comes out fine, then there really is no objectives to point at. If there is no underlying cause to point at, then you are dismissed.

It is about time for tinnitus itself to be classified as a disease and that it truly can ruin people's lives (even those who are psychologically strong).

Even if our technology is not yet sophisticated enough to detect nerve damage in these enormously tiny structures, we need this to be accepted for what it is. Nerve damage!

I completely agree with you regarding the fact that classing tinnitus as a symptom rather than a health condition in its own right belittles the impact of tinnitus and belittles tinnitus sufferers. I have spent a lot of hard work trying to put this right in the UK. In 2012 the main information website for the NHS (the UK's health system) stated that:

"Tinnitus is a symptom rather than a condition itself"

After many emails from me to NHS about this I finally got this reply:

"Dear David
Thank you for your recent comments regarding the tinnitus Health A-Z topic.
Following your comments, the introduction page has been amended to reflect that tinnitus is a condition in its own right as well as also sometimes being a symptom of another condition"​

Thanks to me the NHS website no longer states that "tinnitus is a symptom not a condition in its own right" Incidentally I had contacted the BTA about this at that time - they couldn't have been less interested in trying to persuade the NHS to make a change to their website.

I'm not complacent though about the work we still have to do - too much information about tinnitus still classes it as a minor psychological condition and organisations such as the BTA and ATA unfortunately encourage this. Together as tinnitus sufferers we still have a fight on our hands to make sure that this is changed.

 

[jasonbourne]

Jason I hope you're just kidding around.

The CIA uses sound all the time to break suspects, and nobody can habituate to loud sound, it eventually causes damage.

A look at my post history should clear it up.