Last modified on Sat 17 Apr 2021 12.02 EDT
More people are complaining of developing tinnitus for the first time or have found their symptoms have worsened since the start of the pandemic, according to scientists and other leading experts who specialise in the condition.
The British Tinnitus Association (BTA) has reported a surge in the number of people accessing its services, with a 256% increase in the number of web chats from May to December 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Calls to its helpline rose by 16% during the same period.
Tinnitus – the term used to describe sounds such as ringing, whooshing or humming coming from an internal source rather than externally – affects about 7 million people in the UK.