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TINNITUS TO BE IGNORED IS EXCELLENT ADVICE BY DJ !
Posted on 13/03/2011 09:53:00
Eddy Temple-Morris told delegates of a tinnitus conference in London that he manages his tinnitus by ignoring it
The DJ, music producer and British Tinnitus Association (BTA) ambassador spoke at the ‘Medicine and Me: Tinnitus’ conference, held at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) in London.
The ‘learn to live with it’ technique often prescribed by GPs is considered outdated and simplistic by many people with the condition. However, Morris said the best tinnitus management advice he’d ever received was to, “Just forget about it.”
He added that the advice, given to him by BTA trustee Peter Webber, may sound flippant but stressed that in his case it had worked. He likened his habituation mindset to, “Flipping a light switch,” though he acknowledged it can take a long time to achieve an instant tinnitus switch off.
The conference organised by the RSM, in association with RNID, the Ménière’s Society and the BTA, aimed to provide a platform for patients to talk to medical experts, learn more about the condition and hear about the latest research. Speakers included both auditory scientists and tinnitus patients.
Morris told delegates how he first experienced temporary tinnitus after a Van Halen gig in 1977 when he was 12, where, he admitted, the speaker stacks were as high as the John Lewis building situated in the street adjacent to the RSM. Following the gig he was unable to hear properly for a week.
He has had chronic tinnitus for a decade and since last year, has worked with the BTA to educate people about listening to music safely and noise induced hearing loss. As part of his work with the charity Morris is helping to promote its Tinnitus Awareness Week, from February 4 -11. He said, “All the gigs that I went to, Van Halen onwards, nobody told me that one day this noise might never stop. Nobody told me I would never hear silence again.”
Morris aims to help dispel the idea propagated in the media that only old people get tinnitus.
He said that while money is pumped into firework safety campaigns in November every year, Tinnitus does not receive the same attention, despite it being a condition experienced by around ten per cent of the UK population.
He added, “I want the government to recognise that we are one in ten and to take it seriously.”