What you should know about tinnitus

I love the pumping rock beat in my Spinning class. It keeps me on pace, ensuring a good cardio burn. The instructor cranks up the stereo in the small room that holds 15 bikes, donning her microphone so the class can hear her instructions over the music. It's a blast, literally.

I'm the keen one, front row centre, with my cleats locked into the pedals, ready to grind. But you will notice something else—I'm the only one sporting bright orange foam earplugs.

These accoutrements are certainly not a fashion statement, nor a criticism of the music. After all, I am part of the generation that grew up believing louder is better. I had my first Sony Walkman at age 18 and loved to crank INXS to excess.

But now, at 46, I suffer from tinnitus—a buzzing noise I hear 24/7. I also have difficulty focusing on conversation in environments with a lot of background noise. Both are warning signs I have some hearing damage. Even worse, it turns out my favourite fitness activities have the potential to hasten my journey into a silent world. I have 20 years to go before I'm a senior citizen. So what's going on?

Tinnitus on the rise

The Canadian Academy of Audiology defines tinnitus as "the term used for noises or sounds that are heard in one or both ears that do not come from an external source. They are often described as a high-pitched ringing, but can also be described as a buzzing, hissing, pulsing, whistling, roaring, or various other sounds." As many as 360,000 Canadians suffer from tinnitus. Noise exposure is its leading cause, and the Canadian Hearing Society says that hearing loss is occurring at an increasingly younger age.

Remember as a child trying to hear the ocean by holding a seashell to your ear? That's what tinnitus sounds like to me, only at a higher pitch, like a cricket. It rings louder at night when everything else is quiet. I'm lucky my personal buzz isn't that loud; some people suffer from tinnitus so debilitating it leads to increased stress and, in some cases, depression.

I also have difficulty deciphering specific words when there is competing noise, such as a kitchen faucet. Before realizing I had symptoms of hearing loss, my husband would accuse me of not listening, whereas to me, it seemed he mumbled. How ironic that my teenagers have to ask me to turn down the TV and stereo!