TINNITUS sufferers can now turn to a Bolton business for help.

Personal Hearing Solutions, run by Christine Flanigan, is expanding its services to provide a programme for tinnitus sufferers using the latest research and technology.

Mrs Flanigan, an HCPC-registered hearing aid audiologist, has completed a new course developed by manufacturer Widex and a United States hearing expert designed to help tinnitus sufferers, which can include a high proportion of clients with hearing loss.

She has attended training events in London and Chester, where Danish hearing aid manufacturer Widex has a base, and completed a professional course over recent months.

The new tinnitus service will be unique in the Bolton area, she said.

Mrs Flanigan is launching individual tinnitus services this summer and then a support group in September, working with the British Tinnitus Association.

To highlight the latest developments, she is holding an open day at the practice on Thursday, July 18.

She said: “We have found that hearing aids can help reduce the symptoms of tinnitus. But we also want to be able to provide clients with a wide range of options for managing tinnitus even if they don’t have a hearing loss.”

Excess wax in the ear canal can often be a cause of tinnitus, which can be treated.

She added: “All too often, we meet people suffering from tinnitus who have been told there is nothing can be done about it — but this is just not the case.

“Tinnitus is not a disease or illness that can be cured. However, there are number of techniques, as well products available, that can help reduce the severity and intrusion on a sufferer’s daily life.”

Tinnitus is the perception of sound which has no external source. This noise may be heard in one or both ears or in the head.

Often it is difficult to pinpoint its exact location.

The noise may be low, medium or high-pitched. There may be a single noise or more, which can be continuous or broken.

Mrs Flanigan added: “The causes are still not fully understood but are often associated with exposure to loud noise, stress, depression and fatigue. Tinnitus can occur at any age but the incidence increases with age. Men are more likely to report it. Twenty per cent of the UK population have tinnitus but just 10-to-20 per cent seek medical help.”

Mrs Flanigan set up her practice three years ago after many years within the audiology profession, assisted by practice administrator Marilyn Neary. However, Mrs Neary recently retired and Ellie Godding has joined.