Buzzing. Screeching. Static. A tea kettle sound. Roaring.
For people living with tinnitus, a range of sounds can be constantly ringing in their ears.
For Adelaide woman Victoria Didenko, who has been living with tinnitus for the past 10 years, the sounds vary.
"I have a feeling of heaviness in my ears so I want to keep popping my ears," she told SBS News.
"And the vibration of the ringing gets a very high-pitched sonic ring, which has now been accompanied with a pulsatile beat like a heartbeat.
"I can hear boom, boom, boom, boom in the left ear now as well, so there's quite a cacophony of sounds going on in my head."
Victoria Didenko says her mother and grandmother had hearing loss. Source: Supplied
"It's like a dripping tap in the middle of the night, it's just constantly there," she said.
"You just want to be able to turn it off but you can't."
What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus, often described as a ringing in the ears or head, is the perception of sound without an external sound source.
Tinnitus can be constant or occasional, loud or soft, mild or severe, and can be heard in one or both ears or in the head.
The condition, which is often an isolating and distressing experience, can affect people of all ages and backgrounds.
However, Dr Matthieu Recugnat, a hearing researcher and the founder of MindEar, a tinnitus management tool, says it is more common in older people.
"I don't think there is a specific age at which it happens," Recugnat told SBS News.
"But it's most prevalent for people that are getting older because there is a high correlation between hearing loss and tinnitus. So, the more you get older, the more your hearing is declining, and the more you're likely to have some sort of tinnitus.
"It can happen also to younger people. When they are exposed to noise, let's say, you know, going to concerts or listening to music too loud for too long, that can also be happening at that stage."
Nearly half of people over 75 and approximately one-third of those aged 64 to 75 have a hearing loss, according to the Hearing Health Foundation.
But Dr Caitlin Barr, chief executive of hearing charity Soundfair, says tinnitus is becoming more prevalent among young people.
"We do have this really concerning shift where (among) young people (aged) 18 to 35, it's becoming increasingly common," Barr said.
"And that's really around that age group where people are enjoying music and sound.
"So, it can happen at any age, no one is immune."
A study by Hearing Australia found that up to 70 per cent of people aged 18 to 35 years have experienced tinnitus and 16 per cent experience it more than once a week.
Although tinnitus can get worse with age, for many people, the condition can improve with treatment.
Regugnat says results can vary for every individual.
"Scientific evidence suggests that there are multiple ways of coping with the tinnitus or managing it and those have been shown to help in different scenarios, and sometimes in combination. Everyone is different everyone's tinnitus is different," he said.
Didenko says her mother and grandmother had hearing loss and this may have led to her diagnosis.
But experts say there is no clear evidence that tinnitus is genetic.
Forty-five per cent of people with tinnitus experience depression.
Barr says the condition needs more awareness.
"It's very hard for people who have tinnitus to seek help. And so what we want people to do is make this invisible condition visible by talking about it. So, you have to talk to someone, seek help because there are many different ways that you can get help for your tinnitus."
More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.
