It has been estimated that one in every six people experience the effects of tinnitus at some point in their lives yet fail to recognise the condition because the “whistling, rushing or ringing” sounds heard in their ears are thought to be temporary and mostly ignored.

The latter circumstance can arise when there is an unexpected exposure to excessive noise levels, as in an acoustic trauma, which can cause temporary noise induced hearing loss or long term hearing damage accumulated over many years exposure to accepted high levels of excessive noise.

While around 8 per cent of the population experience high levels of background noise every single day, either at, or travelling to and from their workplace, which may cause minor irritation, fatigue or even a disturbed sleep pattern, only a half a per cent of adults would consider the noises heard in their ears to be a form of hearing loss. However, episodes of tinnitus are known to affect nearly 5 million adults or 10 per cent of the UK population.

Many sufferers often think that their tinnitus was probably caused by a reaction to an emotional or stressful circumstances rather than by a physical cause. Recent research has actually found that men and women who are under severe long-term stress can be twice as likely to experience tinnitus than others.

Blood tests show two and a half times the normal level of cortisol, the hormone which is activated in stressful situations, and is known to affect hearing. The research concluded that tinnitus and stress can be linked with either condition highly likely to lead to each other.

While anxiety, severe headaches, migraines and insomnia can be either the short term or long term consequences of unmanaged tinnitus, it is important to identify the physical causes of high blood pressure or cholesterol, diabetes, etc. The possibility that the onset of episodes of tinnitus could be a sign of longer term hearing problems should not be ignored.

Tinnitus is mostly found to be a disruption in the normal working operation and magnified by stress, of the 16,000 hair cells producing constant electrical-mechnical activity in the cochlea, which trigger sounds heard.

And whilst tinnitus can dissipate after a short period, the prevalence of any excessive noise level exposure should be always taken seriously, especially if the tinnitus persists for a month or more, a period long enough to be considered a long-term condition.

A working history of daily exposure to high levels of noise, which may have given rise to long-term tinnitus and profound industrial deafness will require professional hearing loss advice, audiogram testing and relevant former employment conditions to be investigated.