The Sleep Connection

The degree of distress that head and ear sounds (tinnitus) cause is often directly related to the quality of our sleep. The best way to tone down the noises can be to re-establish a more normal sleep pattern.

Most deeply restorative Delta-wave (D-wave) sleep happens in the first three hours of the night. This contrasts with active sleep (REM - rapid eye movement) when ear and eye muscles contract rhythmically and brain cells fire way at a rate 20% faster than in wakefulness, assimilating challenges and changes encountered in our waking lives and filing significant information in our memory bank.

An overload of unresolved problems or new demands, twinges of pain from conditions like arthritis, and the stimulus of tinnitus may jumble sleep stages, with REM starting too early in the night and a shortage of D-wave sleep.

If this goes on for long, it upsets the balance of brain chemicals regulating complex biological rhythms. The result is fatigue, difficulty concentrating and reduced ability to tolerate sounds of tinnitus - in other words a vicious circle.

Another factor is that it is natural, after the age of sixty, to have a smaller sleep quota and to drift in and out of consciousness at intervals during the night. This may be one of the reasons we're apt to develop annoying tinnitus in later years.

Sleep disturbance can be either the cause or the result of tinnitus. Sometimes it is hard to tell which came first.

How can we escape this cycle?

• Keep the same hour of going to bed and getting up including the weekends.

• Don't nap for more than 20 minutes. Nap at the same time each day or not at all. Avoid naps after 4pm - don't nod off in front of the TV.

• Be sure your room is dark and under 22 degrees Celsius, your feet warm and your bed large enough; if your partner's movements disturb you, sleep in another bed (men thrash about more).

• Have some physical exercise during the day.

• Don't work or do anything physically or mentally demanding in the three hours before bedtime.

• Avoid alcohol later in the night.

• Don't drink caffeinated drinks after noon. It takes eight to ten hours for all traces of caffeine to be eliminated.

• For more help consider medications available on prescription. Discuss the options with your doctor.

Article reprinted from the September 2001 MSGV Whirligig Newsletter

Otitis Media - "Glue Ear"

Otitis media, glue ear and fluid behind the eardrum are all terms used to describe a common cause of treatable hearing loss in children.

How does it happen?

Behind your eardrum there is a space called the middle ear where three tiny bones sit which form a chain to help conduct sounds from the ear drum to the inner ear. Normally this space is filled with air. When a child has otitis media, this air is replaced by fluid. A visit to a GP is recommended to treat any ear aches or infections.

It is important to know that the hearing loss can be present without any obvious signs of infection. The hearing loss is conductive, which means the transmission of sounds to the inner ear is affect, and fluctuating, which means the degree of the hearing loss can vary.

How is it treated?

Medication may be prescribed by a GP, but in all cases it is important to determine that the fluid in the middle ear does not persist. If it does, it can be drained during a simple operation by an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist and ventilation tubes, called grommets, may be inserted.

Why should we be concerned about this?

Conductive hearing loss can be a 'silent' problem: children may have no obvious signs except for behavioural problems or they may seem to hear only when they want to. Hearing loss present during critical speech and language development may cause learning difficulties which may not show until later.

What should parents do if they are concerned?

If you have any suspicions about your child's hearing, have your child examined by your GP, and a hearing test carried out by an audiologist.