Released on: October 31, 2007, 6:27 am

Press Release Author: BeyondPR

Industry: Healthcare

Press Release Summary: Self-employed linguistic consultant Ngaire Lowndes has
suffered from a constant high frequency ringing sound in her ears for four years.


Press Release Body: Self-employed linguistic consultant Ngaire Lowndes has suffered
from a constant high frequency ringing sound in her ears for four years. It gets
worse in the evening when she is trying to relax and also when she is stressed,
tired or angry, and particularly when she is exposed to any loud noise. Ngaire
thinks that the symptom arose as a result of her former occupation; she was a
freelance legal secretary and paralegal, but had to give it up when she became
unable to undertake even short-term assignments due to the hearing fatigue caused by
the heavy load of audio-typing that is the legal secretary's lot.

"It's not just hearing a voice in your ears for eight hours a day that does the
damage, but actively listening, deciphering and then typing dictation, which is not
always clearly or consistently carried out. I've worked for solicitors who were so
horrendously bad at maintaining a consistent volume of dictation, who mumbled or
shouted, or simply spoke very badly, that I would have to listen to phrases three or
four times over just to understand what they were trying to say. Multiply that to
fill a working day, and are you surprised that tinnitus is extremely common in older
legal secretaries?

"I used to work in central London and was very accustomed to the rhythm of the city,
but now I have no confidence in coping with it. I'm lucky that I can now work from
home, but it is still a huge drop in income," explains 53-year-old Ngaire. "I've had
to give up other things too: I used to sing in a large choir, which I loved, but the
sound levels generated in performance overwhelmed my hearing. I couldn't pitch my
voice accurately or hear what I was supposed to be singing. As a classically trained
singer and musician, this was a big loss." It is a long time since Ngaire has been
to a concert or to the theatre in London, not only because of the noise during
shows, but also because of the strain of getting there and back. She also misses
playing the piano - even this mellifluous sound caused problems for her ears.

"I actively avoid gatherings now, where the noise will be above a certain level. I
have a friend's wedding coming up, but after the ceremony and the meal - when the
disco starts - I'll have to leave, because even if it's pleasant music my ears will
ring tenfold for days afterwards. It's like the aural equivalent of headlight
dazzle; loud music becomes a blur of sound." said Ngaire.

Apart from buying some earplugs, Ngaire has had a hearing test at her local
audiology department where it was confirmed that she had no hearing loss but that
she definitely had tinnitus. The advice was to avoid loud noise wherever possible;
no support or treatment was offered and Ngaire was told by a sympathetic audiologist
that nothing could be done to cure the tinnitus. The ringing does stop completely
when she is swimming underwater, but this is not exactly a practical solution to the
problem. Ngaire welcomes the idea of more research being carried out into suitable
methods of treatment. "Keep scouting round and testing anything, however loopy it
seems - something, someday, must work," she urges. "It'd also be valuable for
non-afflicted people to realise that tinnitus is exhausting. It saps your
concentration and makes going out anywhere a tiring ordeal," she adds.

"I've become quite a hermit compared to my previous life and there's really nothing
I can do about it. I really miss listening to music and taking part in it, and I
tend to communicate with the world via email. I'm not at all deaf - quite the
opposite, but I often have to ask people to repeat themselves. If conversations
aren't short and purposeful, I have difficulty focusing on them."

The UK-based charity Action for Tinnitus Research focuses on funding medical and
scientific
research in pursuit of a cure and raising awareness is a key part of its work.
Operations director
Nick Doughty said: "It is estimated that over five million people in the UK are
affected by tinnitus and it can have a devastating effect on their quality of life.
Ngaire's story is a prime example of a tinnitus sufferer being robbed of their
normal work life and pleasures. Not enough information is available about the very
complex symptom and we are one of the few organisations determined to do something
about it. We are committed to funding leading edge research and providing practical
information to health professionals for the benefit of sufferers," he added.

For more information on Action for Tinnitus Research, logon to the website at
www.tinnitus-research.org, e-mail help@tinnitus-research.org or telephone 0115 925 4065



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