I know we have weeks and days in recognition of anything nowadays. My particular favourite up until about 2016 was National Pie week, which I would celebrate with an eagerness not seen since VE Day. But from 2016 there has been another thing on my mind, and it’s not something I particularly celebrate. Because that was the last time I stood somewhere quiet and managed to listen to the silence. It was the time my tinnitus took hold. And that’s why I would ask you to recognise that this week is National Tinnitus week.

An Ear, sometime last summer. It belongs to a linesman at a football match..

I have a mild but very noticeable form of the condition, which means that I have a constant whining in my left ear. If you are a fan of Heavy Metal, it’s exactly like the ringing in your ears that stays with you for hours after the last chords of Ace of Spades have died away after you leave the concert hall. I have that all the time, which contributes to around 30% hearing in loss on my left side.

There isn’t a lot of research into the problem. I don’t think it’s sexy enough for Government funding. It’s not directly life threatening, although it does have an effect on some people’s mental health, with a few even contemplating suicide (not something that’s ever crossed my mind I add). But this week is an attempt to raise awareness in the hope that one day there will be a cure.

Speaking personally, please bear in mind that if you say something to me and I don’t respond it’s because I haven’t heard you, or I’m being distracted by the noise in my ear. It’s not the sort of selective hearing that means I’ll not hear a request for money but I’ll always accept an offer of a pint!

More information here – https://www.tinnitus.org.uk