It’s one of the most aggravating medical conditions you can have, and it has driven many people mad — and there’s a good chance you have it.

A new study has found that a whopping 10 percent of Americans have tinnitus, which is defined as a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ear even when there is no sound present, according to a JAMA Network Journals statement.

For tinnitus sufferers, the problem isusually only occasionally annoying, but in chronic casese it can have a big impact on the individual: it can interfere with sleep, concentration, thought processing and life in general.

Most people don’t have a medical health-related complication from tinnitus, but it can be extremely irritating and be damaging for mental health, triggering anxiety or depression.

The goal of the study was not just to find out how many people have the condition, but to assess its impact on their lives. Scientists have been trying to figure out how to treat tinnitus effectively.

The findings are based on a national government survey from 2007 that included more than 75,000 adults at least 18 years of age.

“The recent guidelines published by the AAO­HNSF provide a logical framework for clinicians treating these patients, but the current results indicate that most patients may not be offered management recommendations consistent with the suggested protocol. With the newly published guidelines from the AAO-HNSF, otolaryngologists may play a greater role in addressing this issue, not only with treating their patients accordingly, but also in educating other physicians and health care professionals. Future work can be directed to show changing patterns in tinnitus management before and after the implementation of these guidelines,” the authors write.