Jean Scott lives in a cul-de-sac in a quiet Dublin suburb. So she was surprised when she woke at night by the sound of a lorry engine running.
"I was wondering what the lorry was doing parked outside the house with its engine running at 3am," she recalls. The strange thing was that her husband and children never heard the noise that regularly woke her up. Then she began to hear a humming noise, reminding her of the way the old telegraph wires used to hum years ago.
When her hearing deteriorated she went to the Blackrock Clinic for a check-up to discover that she had tinnitus and a hearing problem. "I was told they could do something about the hearing loss, but absolutely nothing about the tinnitus." She suspects that her condition was triggered by a particularly bad viral illness.
Jean was surprised to find that there was no support group for people with tinnitus so when she saw a notice for the British Tinnitus Association, she made contact with that group. Today, she is chairwoman of the Irish Tinnitus Association and runs a helpline for people with the condition.
Jean now hears three noises - high pitched whining, humming and the engine noise. On a bad day she can hear all three at the same time. "It doesn't let up. It's 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Right now, as I'm talking to you I can hear a noise like an engine rumbling. I'm trying to concentrate on what I'm saying to you but this is going on at the same time so it's very distracting."
People with tinnitus tire very quickly, she says, as they have to concentrate so hard to block out the competing sounds. "It's a huge bogey with sleep. Everything is quiet at night and all you can hear is the noise in your head."
People with tinnitus are advised to spend about half an hour calming themselves down before they go to bed. Relaxation sounds such as recordings of birds singing or waves can help take people's minds off the other sounds in their head. "I listen to Lyric FM with my headphones on," she says.
Jean is determined that tinnitus will not rule her life. "Some people find it much harder than others and need counselling. I know of one young girl who was devastated by it. She's just 20 and thinking, I will have this for the rest of my life. That's where counselling comes in.
"Other people say, this is a noise in my head and it's not going to beat me. It can be managed. But if you are stressed and anxious, it definitely makes it worse."
