More than 35 million Americans don’t know what real quiet is like. They are bombarded constantly by sounds—sounds only they can hear. No, they aren’t mentally ill. They have tinnitus—never-ending ringing, buzzing, hissing or chirping noises in their ears. For some the constant ear noise is so loud it interferes with hearing, and can cause anxiety, depression and insomnia. In exceptional cases, it has led to suicide.

I have a combination of constant buzzing and ringing in my ears. Sometimes it’s barely noticeable, and at other times, it’s annoyingly loud. My tinnitus is the result of working for decades in manufacturing plants where machinery pounded out metal parts and the din of production pounded my eardrums because I didn’t use earplugs or hearing protection.

In addition to loud sounds earwax, vitamin A and B deficiencies and some common drugs, such as aspirin, can cause tinnitus.

MEASURING SOUND

Sound intensity is calculated in decibels (dB). The greater the decibels the more damage it can do. Silence is zero dB, while a normal conversation is typically in the low 60 decibel range. The blast of a large firecracker can be 130 to 150 decibels. Loud sounds can damage the hair-like nerves in the inner ears. The higher the sound intensity the more likely the result will be hearing loss, and/or tinnitus. But sound intensity is only one factor. The longer the exposure to loud sound, even moderately loud sound, the greater the chances for hearing nerve damage.

Music at a rock concert can easily reach and sustain 140 dB. The surrounding sound in movie theaters can be well over 100 dB, as can the cheering of thousands of people in football or baseball stadiums. Emergency vehicle sirens,