Susanna Reid health: The GMB presenter’s ‘distressing’ condition – the symptoms
Susanna Reid clashes with David Lammy after calling PM a liar
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The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant appears regularly on ITVs early morning talk show alongside a variety of male counterparts, most famously Piers Morgan. But working in television has been made even tougher by her condition that she has lived with for 17 years. After the birth of her son Finn in 2004 the star was diagnosed with tinnitus.
The presenter first revealed that she suffered with the illness on Twitter when she shared with her 800,000 followers “my tinnitus is so loud right now.
“The noise you used to hear when TV programming finished at the end of the day? That. In my head.”
After a difficult birth with her son, the presenter started to hear the ringing in her ears. When it first started occurring Susanna revealed that she felt “distressed”.
In an eye-opening segment on Good Morning Britain she continued to say: “When I first started hearing it, which was probably about ten years ago, I became quite distressed that I would never hear silence again.”
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The star dislikes the condition so much that she admitted that she would do just about anything to be able to enjoy complete silence again.
Tinnitus is when you experience ringing or other noises in one or both of your ears.
According to The Mayo Clinic around 15 to 20 percent of people suffer from the condition – particularly older adults.
The British Tinnitus Association explained tinnitus can sound like a “ringing, whooshing, humming or buzzing in the ear”.
It’s the term used to describe the sensation of “hearing a sound in the absence of any external sound”.
Harvard Health adds that everyone has experienced some form of tinnitus for a short period of time after being exposed to extremely loud noise, for example at a concert.
For those who suffer with the condition long-term they may find that they have trouble sleeping as the quietness of a bedroom makes the tinnitus noises more noticeable.
A number of conditions can cause or worsen tinnitus:
Hearing loss. There are tiny, delicate hair cells in your inner ear (cochlea) that move when your ear receives sound waves. This movement triggers electrical signals along the nerve from your ear to your brain (auditory nerve). Your brain interprets these signals as sound.
If the hairs inside your inner ear are bent or broken — this happens as you age or when you are regularly exposed to loud sounds — they can “leak” random electrical impulses to your brain, causing tinnitus.
Ear infection or ear canal blockage. Your ear canals can become blocked with a buildup of fluid (ear infection), earwax, dirt or other foreign materials. A blockage can change the pressure in your ear, causing tinnitus.
Head or neck injuries. Head or neck trauma can affect the inner ear, hearing nerves or brain function linked to hearing. Such injuries usually cause tinnitus in only one ear.
Medications. A number of medications may cause or worsen tinnitus. Generally, the higher the dose of these medications, the worse tinnitus becomes. Often the unwanted noise disappears when you stop using these drugs. Medications known to cause tinnitus include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and certain antibiotics, cancer drugs, water pills (diuretics), antimalarial drugs and antidepressants.
Ear, nose and throat doctor Alan Jones provides some tips on how to lessen your chance of getting tinnitus.
These include protecting your ears from loud noises such as machinery or fireworks using soft earplugs, limit your time spent around alarms, use earbuds and headphones with caution and in general keep a healthy lifestyle – quit smoking, limit alcohol and caffeine.
When living with tinnitus there are a number of adaptations you can make to minimise the effects of the condition. This includes using background noise like the radio to distract from the tinnitus sound.
Cognitive behavioural therapy is also another recommended treatment. This type of therapy can identify any unnecessary thoughts, beliefs or behaviours around the condition and help your brain to adjust to life with tinnitus.
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