With regard to the article The sound and the fury, Tinnitus drives some sufferers to distraction, as it appears under Health in the Advocate published on Tuesday, Nov. 3, is probably a bit dramatized, although it can be annoying and somewhat exasperating to the person who suffers from the condition. I have personally gone through the condition.
However, I would like to point out that the audiologist is part of a team of the many specialists that need to be consulted, such as family doctors, specialists as need be, like neurologists, neurosurgeons etc, and fully investigated, as there are some very severe and life-threatening conditions if the tinnitus is ignored. These include acoustic neuroma, which are not uncommon; these tumors grow on the eighth nerve (nerve for hearing, balance etc. It is said that 20 per cent of autopsies have these tumors!).
Thus appropriate consultations and investigations are imperative, and ignored at the patient’s peril.
It is unfortunate that audiologists are emphasized when the others of concern to the management and a cure for the symptom are totally ignored in your article.
Govind Bhadresa
Red Deer