THINK how annoying it is when a car alarm won’t stop going off outside your house. Now imagine that car alarm is right next to your head, and it’s going off the entire time.

That’s what life is like for tinnitus sufferer Diana Johnson.

Dianna, 48, from West End, developed tinnitus after she was hit in the head three years ago.

A ringing sound – which she likens to screaming – started immediately and hasn’t stopped since.

“I just thought the sound would go away but it didn’t,” says the teaching assistant.

“I’d assumed I could have an operation or something to get rid of the tinnitus.When I found out it was incurable I was absolutely devastated. I’ve got it for life.”

It’s common for people to assume tinnitus is just a bit of ringing in your ears, as if you’ve been to a loud concert.

But Diana says this is far from the case.

“It’s like a really loud screaming noise so it affects my sleep. I use an MP3 player with beach sounds or relaxing music to help me drop off but if I wake up it’s very hard to get back to sleep.

“I don’t ever have peace and quiet now and the thought that that’s how it is going to be for the rest of my life is very upsetting.

“It hasn’t got any easier.You don’t get used to it because there’s nothing that blocks it out – nothing.

I’m still having counselling for it.”

Diana has had to change her lifestyle to adjust to her tinnitus.

Her working day isn’t too difficult.

As she works in a school with young children there is generally enough background noise to distract her from the screaming in her ears. But unfortunately she finds it hard to enjoy her leisure time in the way she used to.

“My husband and I like to go for walks in the countryside but that’s been ruined because I’ve permanently got this screaming noise in my ear. Reading is difficult. I used to like doing suduko puzzles but I can’t anymore because I can’t concentrate. We live near a road and if I sit out in the garden it’s as if the tinnitus competes with the noise and it’s worse. It does make me very depressed.”

Diana has found going to the Tinnitus Clinic in Winchester, where she talks about how difficult she finds living with tinnitus, has helped her to cope with it. The other thing that has helped make it a little easier is her MP3 player, which helps take her mind off the screaming sound.

“I’ve had to find ways of dealing with it because there’s nothing else you can do,” she says.

“You just hope that one day someone will find a cure.

“You live in hope, really, because there’s nothing else you can do.”

■ Around seven million people suffer from tinnitus in the UK.

■ Troublesome tinnitus can be very distressing for the affected individual, and issues may arise with sleep, concentration and mood. However, therapy for tinnitus can address these issues, and improve quality of life.

■ It is possible for even quite young children to experience tinnitus.