Top UK charity for pro musicians helps with key tinnitus research
Tinnitus
A new in-depth research study by the British Tinnitus Association (BTA) will count on illuminating data gathered by a leading charity for professional musicians, a community seriously blighted by this hard-to-manage condition.
Help Musicians UK (HMUK) carried out a survey in 2015 that showed that 58% of respondents suffer from the noise or ringing in the ears known as tinnitus. Now the group has announced it will be working with the BTA to provide data on the experience of musicians living with tinnitus, as well as key info on managing and creating awareness of the condition.
On the HMUK website, its head of health and welfare, Joe Hastings, says: “Musicians are at increased risk of hearing damage, and while our Hearing Health Scheme helped 5,076 musicians to protect their hearing last year, this research partnership will allow us to study the impact of tinnitus on professional musicians working in the UK and shape our offer and advocacy in the medium to long term”.
David Stockdale, BTA chief executive, also stresses the importance of the team-up: “Considering everything from genre and frequency of performance, to instrument and the position it’s played in, the findings will pave the way for the broadest understanding of the effects of tinnitus within the UK music sector yet and open doors for effective, targeted support”.
HMUK set up its ” Hearing Health Scheme “ to benefit all musicians in the UK. It provides hearing check-ups, discounted custom-made earplugs, a callback test, and other key hearing healthcare services for a one-off payment of £40.
Source: HMUK
