Case Study - Bill Parry

DENTON MAN WANTS MORE HELP FOR TINNITUS SUFFERERS

Bill Parry of Denton, Manchester, has spent his life working in factories and experienced slight ringing in his ears for about 15 years. Early in 2005, however, the noise levels intensified and became much more intrusive. He found the constant loud hissing sounds very distressing and eventually decided to seek help.

Unfortunately, visits to his GP were not beneficial and Bill, 54, is disappointed by his experience of the medical profession's approach to tinnitus. "I was told there was no cure but that drugs were available to calm me down if things got too bad," he explained.

He turned instead to herbal remedies, acupuncture and massage which offered some relief but proved costly. Bill, who is in the process of setting up his own bakery business, now copes by keeping busy, trying to stay positive and avoiding stress whenever possible. He also takes a supplement of zinc, garlic and gingko biloba daily which seems to help. "It might be just a placebo effect but either way it seems to work for me," he commented.

Bill describes his tinnitus now as being in the background but it still impinges on his everyday life. "I can't really sit down quietly and read a newspaper or take a book to the beach and the luxury of just enjoying the peace and quiet has long gone," he said.

Although he manages to 'listen through' the tinnitus most of the time and concentrate on other sounds, Bill still finds it tough on occasions. "I have a fan on in the bedroom all year round and the noise of that helps to detract from the tinnitus so it doesn't stop me from sleeping. The worst time is if I wake up in the early hours of the morning and then I just have to get up and walk around," he explained.
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"I wouldn't tell anyone how to deal with this but I've found ways to manage and things are not as dark as they were but I still have periods of anxiety and depression. I haven't lost a limb or anything and can still see and hear but it's not going to go away and I'll probably have it for the rest of my life.

"I do have highs and lows but I'm lucky that it's not more severe although I can understand how easy it is to get into a downward spiral and struggle to cope. I would like to think that somewhere down the road there might be a cure and more help for people especially from the medical profession, who should treat this condition with more understanding and offer more constructive help and advise." he added.

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. 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 [email protected] or telephone 0115 925 4065

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