Rabs Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Over many years of jams and gigs and being stupid enough not to get ear plugs I have had tinnitus for many many years now (probably since my early 20s).. Now for those who havent got it or dont know, you get tinnitus when you are subjected to loud noise for too long and as far as I know what happens is the hairs in your ears that pick up sound wear down after a while and you begin to loose certain frequences or something like that. This results in you being able to hear a constant high piched ringing sound in your ears. Now its not something thats too bad (at least not for me), even though its always there it doesnt seem to interfear with my hearing as when im not thinking about it I dont hear it.. The only time always hear it and its a bit annoying is when I go to bed and its quiet. So does anyone else have tinnitus? Is it worse than it effects me? Will it get worse with time even if I protect my ears from now on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 It's worth reading around the subject a bit Tinnitus, Hearing loss, Hyperacusis...well known results of loud noise/music...even just listening on headphones Never too late to protect A hearing test can be reassuring (it's not as bad as you might think) Natural age-related problems are to a certain extent a separate issue.... V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabba2203 Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yes, I have it. I wear hearing protection when I go shooting but for some reason cannot get myself to wear any when I play. It's hard to hear everything with plugs in especially on stage and your amp sounds all strange. I also have bouts of Tendinitis that keeps me from playing from time to time. It sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I've had it for about 10-15 yrs. {turned 59 yesterday} mainly in my left ear. Drag racing, Muzzle loading rifles, and loud music. Lost the very high register in it. Like you, doesn't bother me unless I start thinking about it. Not to bad when I go to bed, usually tired and go to sleep kinda quick. It seems to get louder or more pronounced if I am taking cold meds. What's odd about it, is I can still hear if a string is out of tune on my guitar or somebody else's, if someone is singing flat, etc. Dr. says probably hearing aid down the road, 4 to 5 thousand an ear. Don't think so! Telling everyone I know about hearing protection, wish I'd been smarter. Mine doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but not any better either, feel for you. TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yes, I have it. I wear hearing protection when I go shooting but for some reason cannot get myself to wear any when I play. It's hard to hear everything with plugs in especially on stage and your amp sounds all strange. I also have bouts of Tendinitis that keeps me from playing from time to time. It sucks. Old age & gravity sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 I've had it for about 10-15 yrs. {turned 59 yesterday} mainly in my left ear. Drag racing, Muzzle loading rifles, and loud music. Lost the very high register in it. Like you, doesn't bother me unless I start thinking about it. Not to bad when I go to bed, usually tired and go to sleep kinda quick. It seems to get louder or more pronounced if I am taking cold meds. What's odd about it, is I can still hear if a string is out of tune on my guitar or somebody else's, if someone is singing flat, etc. Dr. says probably hearing aid down the road, 4 to 5 thousand an ear. Don't think so! Telling everyone I know about hearing protection, wish I'd been smarter. Mine doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but not any better either, feel for you. TC Yes thats it exactly. I can still hear ok, tones and if something is out of tune.. id even say my hearing is still good as I can pick up all those things when I listen to music.. But you can hear the ringing over the top of it all.. Really weird.... And yes, the drummer in my old band used to wear plugs and has done for gigs for ages.. He always moaned at me about it and I never listened.. For like £6/£7 you can get realy high quality plugs that only filter out the damaging range of sounds and you can hear the rest fine.. worth it if you ask me, yet still I havent bought any lol.. I must be a stubborn SOB ;) Some of the loudest bands ive seen are Motorhead and Type O Negative (Who I think were recorded as the loudest band in the world at one point lol)... like my hearing was terrible for two or three days after those gigs.. Silly me So yeah another warning to the youngans (and im only 38). protect your ears dudes/dudesses it may not be ROCK n ROLL to do so, but you will apppreciate it in later life :P (listen to me going on like an old man lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malchik Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yup, for about three years. I've worn protection to every gig and concert; still got it. Mine might be medical, though. My hearing tests great, and it has gotten progressively worse. My ears are now very sensitive low frequencies. The last Deep Purple concert I've been to almost destroyed me. The kick and bass were nuts, and I was wearing protection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krock Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 So yeah another warning to the youngans (and im only 38). protect your ears dudes/dudesses it may not be ROCK n ROLL to do so, but you will apppreciate it in later life :P (listen to me going on like an old man lol) I wear ear plug when my room mate plays drums but thats just because it annoys me when i can hear it through the wall. I only occasionally wear ear phones when we play though because my guitar is always quieter than the drums and i wont hear it otherwise. But yeah im learning from this threat that i should wear ear plugs/phones more often Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Last year I had a bout of tinnitis but it passed after avoiding loud noises for a couple of months.Anything that was either bit loud would trigger an attack that be very painful and irritating.Even sudden outbursts of laughter could cause me considerable discomfort.I bought a set of drummer's earplugs that have 2 sets of plastic baffles to provide varying degrees of hearing protection without affecting the frequencies.The plugs are called Vater Percussion and have very soft and comfortable silicone buds that block out any extrinsic loud noises. BTW:When I got my hearing tested because of the tinnitis,the results were 100% in each ear,both the doctor and I were pretty surprised over that fact because of the many years of being subjected to extremes of volume and high frequency feedback etc. The doctor said that I should be able to hear grass grow,my hearing is that sensitive,a bit of hyperbole no doubt but a good indication of just how sensitive my hearing is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malchik Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I can only imagine what bad tinnitus must feel like. Lots of musicians suffer from severe ringing. If the power goes out, and I don't have my fan to generate ambiance, I don't sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Last year I had a bout of tinnitis but it passed after avoiding loud noises for a couple of months.Anything that was either bit loud would trigger an attack that be very painful and irritating.Even sudden outbursts of laughter could cause me considerable discomfort.I bought a set of drummer's earplugs that have 2 sets of plastic baffles to provide varying degrees of hearing protection without affecting the frequencies.The plugs are called Vater Percussion and have very soft and comfortable silicone buds that block out any extrinsic loud noises. BTW:When I got my hearing tested because of the tinnitis,the results were 100% in each ear,both the doctor and I were pretty surprised over that fact because of the many years of being subjected to extremes of volume and high frequency feedback etc. The doctor said that I should be able to hear grass grow,my hearing is that sensitive,a bit of hyperbole no doubt but a good indication of just how sensitive my hearing is. Wow thats harcore.. its certainly never caused me any pain.. glad you sorted it out though.. sounds like something I dont want to happen for sure.. maybe it just effects us all slightly in different ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 What? No, I don't hear as well as I did when I was 20, I do wear plug's when I'm in a loud club or other high SPL area. It make sense to me, didn't always wear plug's but for the last 20 years or so I have been diligent about doing so. This has likely saved my full-range hearing but the damage done when I was younger is there, the super high frequencies are not clear any more but I'm holding out well for some one of my age. We as experienced musician's will train our brain for the pitch that we have perceived for many years as being correct for things like tuning or the proper pitch for singing/playing a song that we know from long-term memory. Sound is defined as a mechanical vibration(s) moving through a medium...air, water, wood etc. So you can "feel" your way to hearing some sounds too, not just by using your ear's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malchik Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 What? I think you may need glasses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtherainbo Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Hello, Fellow Babies, So far I have been lucky that despite years of playing in front of my big ol' screeching amps, guitar doesn't seem to have effected me yet. I expect that's because I've gotten into a very long term habit of simply playing my electrics sans amp. I have found that I can get in hours of practice while watching a movie with my dogs. On the pro side it's great for keeping your chops and learning new stuff; on the con side I find it has made me skittish once I turn on the amp - I feel that I have lost control of some of the unintended sounds the guitar can produce. Some years back it seems that I was more susceptible to winter colds, probably wasn't taking care to dress and eat right. Forgotten what it's called, but it happened several times that my throat got sore; the worst time, it lasted for more than a month. So on three occasions the infection eventually moved to my middle ear and then perforated the ear drum. This happened to both ears. During one of those episodes, I was pleased that the pain was considerable less intense than on the previous illness. I was thinking that I might be on the way to recovery, and that I had broken out of the cycle of infections - couple of days later, my brother and I were working outside, and he noticed I was bleeding from my ear! No pain. but the infection had perforated the drum. Seems like the effect is that I have lost some of the high frequencies - - for example, I used to be able to hear the phone ringing even as I was outside, returning home and trying to unlock the door. Not anymore. I can talk on the phone and carry on a conversation, but I do wish I could get rid of the ringing. Fortunately I only really notice it at night when I can't sleep. Luckily, I had that third middle ear, so I still have at least one working, ear ball. Bet you wish you had a middle ear too, betcha, betcha. The biggest problem we have here in the Rocking Puppy Ranch is that my sweet, blind, little Lady bug has gone almost completely deaf with age. So we have to shout directions like, "Come here, Lady Bug." And because she can't determine the direction, we encourage her by shouting, "No," as she turns away, and ,"Yes, yes" when she turns in the proper direction. Apparently, there is a very thin line between shouting at her to reprimand her as punishment or just making myself heard. Recently my poor baby thought we were fussing at her, and her feelings were hurt; she went off to sulk for a couple of hours in the hall. She wouldn't return to the den until I sat out in the entry hall with her, petting and tickling her ears for an hour. I wish they had affordable hearing aids for my little pup. I give her ice cream more frequently now, because she is cut off from contact --no seeing, no hearing, all she's got is petting and taste. I truly feel sorry for people that experience a serious hearing loss. I think they are more seriously cut off from human contact than people afflicted with blindness. Blindness evokes more sympathy, where a person that is deaf unintentionally can cause anger and exasperation. I am angry at myself even now as I remember that my Uncle Bill had hearing problems when I was a teenager, and It embarrassed me to try to carry on a conversation in public with him because there was no privacy as I had to yell my side of the conversation. He was a great guy, and I admired him. He inspired all of the men in our family to get involved with weight lifting. He was the Navy fleet heavy-weight wrestling champion in the the late 30s, and he continued as a body builder into his sixties. His sons joined the Long Beach police ( in fact, now all the men in my California family have made law enforcement the family business) and he eventually donated his time, training skills, and extensive exorcise equipment to the police dept. I wish I had been more understanding.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I have tinnitus in my right ear, it has been a year. I simply woke up with it one day apparently due to a sinus infection, I have hearing loss over 8Khz and a constant buzzing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-poland Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 yes here's another one!tried to enlist in 1974@age 20 high frequency hearing loss, did'nt take me!found out that ear infections and the usual, guns, motor cycles no mufflers,cars no mufflers ,head phones cranked,friends with band ,concerts!probably forgot something? but my employer from the time I was 18 did yearly hearing tests and hearing level pretty much stayed the same for the next 40 yrs.the ringing is there, I usually am able to just put it out of my mind> despite all that initially, Iam sure it started with the ear infections at an early age but I gave it some help too! oh yes the 1 I forgot about fire works. I mean having fights with'em does any body know what m80s and cherry bombs are?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Yes thats it exactly. I can still hear ok, tones and if something is out of tune.. id even say my hearing is still good as I can pick up all those things when I listen to music.. But you can hear the ringing over the top of it all.. Really weird.... And yes, the drummer in my old band used to wear plugs and has done for gigs for ages.. He always moaned at me about it and I never listened.. For like £6/£7 you can get realy high quality plugs that only filter out the damaging range of sounds and you can hear the rest fine.. worth it if you ask me, yet still I havent bought any lol.. I must be a stubborn SOB ;) Some of the loudest bands ive seen are Motorhead and Type O Negative (Who I think were recorded as the loudest band in the world at one point lol)... like my hearing was terrible for two or three days after those gigs.. Silly me So yeah another warning to the youngans (and im only 38). protect your ears dudes/dudesses it may not be ROCK n ROLL to do so, but you will apppreciate it in later life :P (listen to me going on like an old man lol) Going on like an old man I resemble that last remark TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderchild Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Three very serious words.... In Ear Monitors TC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malchik Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 With stem cell research, in the near future they may be able to regenerate damaged hair cells. I've been reading some very hopeful articles about advancing technologies in nerve regeneration. Of course, the FDA is trying to **** this up. I'd be happy with just a cure for the ring, but there are so many variables when it comes to tinnitus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Sounding like an old man? Like I have an option? <grin> Yup, I know what M80s and cherry bombs are/were... Try no ear protection and 15 feet from a 155 mm. Howitzer - especially to the side just in the aim of the muzzle brake on an SP. Then there were times when I've been around various small arms prior to the big hollers about ear protection. And yeah, a full-bore .357 is certainly louder than a .45 acp. Anyway, I dunno if I have any ear ringing that's due to anything other than age 'cuz I can't remember not having a bit of that high-pitched whistlin'. I generally hear stuff I wanna hear, though, if it's within a practical range for the sound to get there. But I remember in the olden days getting home from a rock gig and a 2-hour drive and not being able to hear the shower water running. Too soon oldt; too late schmardt. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-poland Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Sounding like an old man? Like I have an option? <grin> Yup, I know what M80s and cherry bombs are/were... Try no ear protection and 15 feet from a 155 mm. Howitzer - especially to the side just in the aim of the muzzle brake on an SP. Then there were times when I've been around various small arms prior to the big hollers about ear protection. And yeah, a full-bore .357 is certainly louder than a .45 acp. Anyway, I dunno if I have any ear ringing that's due to anything other than age 'cuz I can't remember not having a bit of that high-pitched whistlin'. I generally hear stuff I wanna hear, though, if it's within a practical range for the sound to get there. But I remember in the olden days getting home from a rock gig and a 2-hour drive and not being able to hear the shower water running. Too soon oldt; too late schmardt. I like the .357 !that .44 mag and 500 S/W they are LOUD!!! that howi did'nt do ya any good !did any body ever tell ya about the big guns on some of the navel ships?? sheeeesh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Yeah... those monster guns on the old battlewagons were incredibly noisy. I'm told they literally could knock you off your feet. The SP tube with the muzzle brake was a lot louder, it seemed to me, than the towed 155 mm. The old black powder mountain howitzer wasn't even in their league, though. None of that stuff is all that good for your ears. Nor the motorcycles I was brought up around, nor a dozen other bad habits I had in my youth. Which reminds me... perhaps some day I'll grow up and take care. <grin> m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abaddon Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Yea i have it too. 3 years now ,if i plug my right ear can't hear too much.The ringing consent .Still hear when i play if i'm in tune or not.Hearing aids are expensive here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-poland Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Yeah... those monster guns on the old battlewagons were incredibly noisy. I'm told they literally could knock you off your feet. The SP tube with the muzzle brake was a lot louder, it seemed to me, than the towed 155 mm. The old black powder mountain howitzer wasn't even in their league, though. None of that stuff is all that good for your ears. Nor the motorcycles I was brought up around, nor a dozen other bad habits I had in my youth. Which reminds me... perhaps some day I'll grow up and take care. <grin> m ditto for me! and being grown up is highly OVERATED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lespaulj45 Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 As a 64 year old guitar player and drag racer,years ago I was bothered by loud music and the tuning of 8500 rpm race motors. A friend who was a retired military flight deck hand got me a liquid filled headset that is unique in that it enables you to hear conversation but blocks out earpiercing noises that will kill your hearing. I still have them to tune engines in the garage and for shooting at ranges-they work very well. Most of my guitar playing is at managable volume levels so I just use the small foam ear plugs and at my age my hearing still works fairly well. I was employed for years in a aerospace machine shop and hearing protection was mandatory so I got used to wearing protection.If interested check out some of the shooting supply outfits for the gel or liquid filled hearing protection-it works! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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