“Had many ups and downs with my tinnitus”: William Shatner shares realities of living with his permanent condition

William Shatner is lately getting candid about the "ups and downs" of living with tinnitus.

The Hollywood veteran, who was diagnosed with the condition in the 1990s, has issued a new video in support of his nonprofit, Tinnitus Quest, which aims to raise funds for research aimed at curing the ailment. The 94-year-old Star Trek alum says in the video:

“My own journey with tinnitus started when I was filming a Star Trekepisode called 'Arena,' and I was too close to the special effects explosion, and the result was that I was left with permanent tinnitus." he added, “And over the years, I’ve had many ups and downs with my tinnitus, and I know from firsthand experience just how difficult it can get."

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William Shatner recalls the exact moment he knew something was wrong: Read more

According to the American Tinnitus Association, tinnitus causes ringing, buzzing, whooshing, or other sounds that "no one else can hear." It is an audiological and neurological condition that afflicts over 50 million American adults. It can either be acute or chronic.

William Shatner, who played Admiral James Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, stayed with the show from 1966 to 1969. He also portrayed the same role in several other Star Trek films. In the video, he also reflected on how "Tinnitus has affected friends and colleagues.” He stated:

“It’s a diverse condition. About 1 to 2% of the population suffer from a chronic, debilitating form of Tinnitus and there are no effective treatments and that’s why we need more research.”

Shatner then beseeched those watching for alms and to raise awareness about the ailment. He said:

Noting that his organization's "simple and bold goal of silencing tinnitus once and for all by funding innovative research. It's run by tinnitus patients together with some of the top researchers in the field. The more money we can raise for Tinnitus Quest, the quicker we can find a solution to help the millions of people suffering. Thank you so much for watching, and I hope you will consider donating to Tinnitus Quest," he added.

One of the volunteers of the organisation reportedly wrote on the website:

“We believe that by fueling innovative research we can actually silence tinnitus, and I say that because we are at a time where innovations in neuroscience research, global tinnitus awareness, and researchers young and old are investing in finding a solution.”

Sven Köllmann, founder of Tinnitus Quest, also issued a statement in support of the initiative and of the actor:

"William Shatner's voice lends tremendous credibility to our cause. His willingness to share his personal struggle helps destigmatize tinnitus and highlights the urgent need for research funding. When someone of his stature speaks about living with this condition for decades, people listen."

The Miss Congeniality actor spoke to E! News back in 2023 about the moment he realized something was wrong:

“I was on the beach and it’s a vivid moment, and you know how the waves go out — the wave comes in [roars] and then it goes ‘ssss’ [as it] goes out,” he said. “All of a sudden, I kept hearing a ‘ssss’ even though there was another wave coming. And that’s how I discovered [I had tinnitus].” “And it started,” he recounted, “and I went to the doctor and said, ‘Will it get worse?’ And he said, ‘It might not.’ But of course it does as you age, it gets worse.”

He said at the time that you end up getting used to the noise because “your brain starts to assimilate the sound, like it would if you were living beside an airport.”

“Sometimes it’s really bad, but I know it’s not going to kill me.” “I realized that if you were given the choice of sight or sound, choose a faculty, most people would say, ‘Well, sight, sight, sight!'” William Shatner added. “It’s argumentative, because sound gives you a 360-degree [perspective]. Imagine never hearing music again.”

William Shatner also spoke to NPR about his condition, as reported by Hello Magazine, where he said of what the ailment is like for him:

"Turn on a television set without the station. A lot of people [with tinnitus] have different kinds of sound. But the most common, and mine, is that hiss static."

He continued:

"And that's what it's like. And during the time I was going to the doctor, they attempted to reach the nature of the sound, so they had an instrument that played all kinds of hissing."

He continued:

"So they tweaked the machine until they reached me. And when they reached the same timbre and tone of my sound, I broke into tears: Somebody had hacked their way through this jungle of sound where I was totally alone in my agony, and somebody had reached me. And it just moved me to tears."

Shatner added:

"It's caused by a number of things, age being one of them, medication, and mostly traumatic sound. A lot of sound engineers have it. The cilia in your inner ear dies — some of it dies — and this code of silence that you had when you were born is broken, and so it's the brain's activity."

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