Ian Punnett Cuts Airtime To Deal With Tinnitus

An endless buzzing in his ears, exhausting sleep issues, a constant headache -- this is what Twin Cities radio personality Ian Punnett deals with daily since his battle with tinnitus started a few years ago.

"It never goes away," Punnett, 52, told Amy Carlson Gustafson at twincities.com  about the buzz. "It's the last sound I hear at night, it's the first sound I hear in the morning. It often wakes me up in the middle of the night."

Punnett -- who co-hosts  KTMY / myTalk 107.1 FM's "Ian and Margery" show with his wife, Margery Punnett -- surprised folks last month when he told listeners he was cutting his on-air hours in half to reduce his exposure to audio.

Punnett first experienced tinnitus -- the perception of sound when no external sound is present -- at the State Fair in 2009.

"I heard a noise which I thought everybody heard in the loudspeakers, but it turned out only to be in my head," he said. "I was looking around thinking, 'Why wasn't everybody in total agony right now?' "

Earlier this summer, Punnett and his doctors at the Mayo Clinic decided it was time to get more aggressive with his treatment, so instead of co-hosting the show with his wife from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays, Margery now starts the show at 5:30 a.m. with "Twin Cities Live's" Elizabeth Ries. The Punnetts then reunite for a two-hour 7 to 9 a.m. stint.

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