Returning to Melbourne from a family visit in Canada back in 2019, Andrea Cosentino encountered an unexpected disturbance—a persistent ringing sound in her ears.

As night fell and Andrea attempted to drift off to sleep, the sound became inescapable, akin to a relentless mosquito buzzing. “Initially, I wondered, ‘What is that noise?'” Andrea, now 44, shared with the Daily Mail. “Then it dawned on me… I think this is tinnitus.”

Tinnitus, characterized by a ringing or buzzing in the ears, is typically a symptom that stems from changes within the ear itself. Various factors can trigger this condition, including ear infections, the accumulation of earwax, water trapped in the ear, or exposure to loud environments like concerts or industrial settings.

Andrea’s familiarity with tinnitus traces back to her time working in gerontology with a speech-language pathologist and a research team in Vancouver. “Tinnitus was a frequent topic of discussion, which is how I first learned about it,” she explained.

Strikingly prevalent, tinnitus affects two out of every three Australians at some stage, with up to one in five suffering from severe symptoms that profoundly interfere with their daily lives.

Tinnitus is remarkably common, with two in three Australians affected at some point, and up to one in five experiencing severe symptoms that significantly impact daily life.

During the 22‑hour flight home after visiting her sick father in Canada, Andrea – who until then had travelled internationally at least once a year and never had any issues – wore in‑ear headphones to listen to music, as she always had.

She later learned this was likely the cause of her tinnitus.

Andrea Cosentino (pictured) experienced tinnitus after a long-haul flight from Canada to Melbourne. The mother of two told the Mail the ringing in her ears was more noticeable at night

From her research, Andrea knew the prognosis was grim: there is no known cure for tinnitus. Rather than wasting her time going to the doctor, she accepted her fate. 

‘I resigned myself to it because I knew it was incurable. I didn’t know what caused it, it just seemed to come out of nowhere. So I gave in,’ she said. 

‘I was frustrated because it was always there, especially at night. I was disappointed to know that this was going to be with me for ever. And I was angry. I thought, “Where did this come from? Why did this happen?”

‘The irony is, because of my gerontology studies and working with the team, I knew how precious hearing was.

‘When you put glasses on, you have 20/20 vision instantly. You don’t get the same thing with hearing aids. Once your hearing is gone, it’s gone.’

With this in mind, Andrea had always worn earplugs to concerts or loud bars, and ensured her children’s ears were also protected in noisy environments. 

‘I was really aware of protecting our hearing. So when this happened, it didn’t make sense. I was like, “Are you kidding me?”‘ she said.

‘After researching tinnitus, I then looked up ways to minimise the impact, many of which I was already doing. For example, not consuming alcohol or coffee, and exercising regularly.

‘I then started learning to focus and distract myself with other things. While trying to fall asleep, I focused on my breathing and the sound of my breath. I think resigning myself to the noise helped the most, to be honest.’

The constant ringing continued for five months and was driving Andrea crazy.

It wasn’t until she visited her osteopath for an unrelated check-up that everything changed. 

‘He asked me how I was going and I complained about the ringing in my ears,’ Andrea recalled. 

‘He asked when it began and I said after I got back from Canada. Then he asked if he could take a look. Of course I said yes. 

‘I told him I knew there was nothing I could do about it, but he explained that it depended on the cause.’

When Andrea told him she had worn in-ear headphones during the flight, he surmised this was likely the reason, because her ears ‘probably hadn’t equalised properly during and after the flight’. 

Ear equalisation is the process of balancing air pressure in your middle ear with the surrounding environment, which is essential for activities like flying or diving. 

The osteopath, using gloves, performed an internal jaw massage technique through her mouth, targeting points around her jaw joint to help restore balance to the middle ear.

‘It was bizarre. He told me the ringing would go away by the end of the day,’ Andrea said.

‘I went to bed that night and was like, “Oh, my God, it’s gone!” I couldn’t believe it! I’d had osteo treatments for years, but I didn’t know they could help with that,’ she said.

‘The next day I called the clinic and left a message to tell my osteopath the news. 

‘Since then, I have never worn earbuds when flying and neither do my children. We all have over-ear Bose noise-cancelling headphones.’ 

Andrea admitted that if she hadn’t heard of tinnitus before, she might have searched for other remedies.

‘If you have tinnitus, give osteotherapy a go – it might work,’ she said.

‘I was frustrated because it was always there,’ Andrea said