Tinnitus: Military Issues

Military environments can cause tinnitus even when the service member uses hearing protection. If the hearing protection provided is inadequate then the auditory system may sustain damage. According to the American Tinnitus Association the military hearing protection provided in the past was not adequate to reduce some industrial noise (e.g. jet engines and gunfire) to a healthy level. The result, tinnitus is the number one problem facing the Veteran's Administration today.

Auditory System:
Noise is simply vibration of air until it hits the eardrum, passes through the auditory system and becomes sound when it is interpreted by the brain's auditory center. Some hearing protection may help to reduce the level of noise entering the outer ear but may be inadequate in protecting the auditory center of the brain from unhealthy vibrations or percussions. A bomb blast could percuss the auditory system and cause tinnitus despite the fact that the military member had protected the outer ear with ear plugs or a headset.

Combat:
A service member may decide, in combat, not to wear hearing protection because he or she wants to be able to hear the enemy and would prefer living with ringing ears for the rest of his or her life rather than losing his or her own life entirely.

Fear:
Some military members are afraid to report their tinnitus because they don't want to lose the career that they've worked so hard to earn. They feel that they are in a Catch 22 situation. They also fear not being promoted if they report the tinnitus.

Sensitivity:
Noise induced tinnitus is the result of an amputation of the hair cells in the cochlea. It can be just as debilitating if not more debilitating as an amputation because it has no cure and there is no prosthetic that can be used to overcome it.

Infrasound:
Infrasound occurs when the ears and brain are shaken repeatedly. There is no noise that is moving the fluid in the cochlea but physical vibration of a vehicle is simulating noise and affecting the auditory system. Sea sickness is one result of infrasound. If service members are inside of a vehicle that is producing infrasound for too long then auditory system damage may occur. Tanks, aircraft, and ships all produce infrasound at various levels. For example, being at sea in a ship and continuously exposed to infrasound for months could lead to hearing loss and tinnitus. Hearing protection will not help to prevent infrasound damage. The only safe solution is to reduce the harmful activity or avoid it altogether. Some people are more sensitive to infrasound than others.

ELF:
Military scientists have studied the effects of ELF. As a result, most militaries make every effort to not operate in Extremely Low Frequency (ELF). However, according to a Canadian Professor (Persinger), lightning generates ELF. Service members operating on ships at-sea who are exposed to open ocean storm systems while working topside may be unknowingly overexposed to ELF which could cause tinnitus and hearing loss. Further research is needed on this possibility.

Final Thought:
I don't think that these issues are simply issues for the United States military but rather all militaries around the world.