Somewhat off topic: Tinnitus

[Newf]

Thanks, I was just curious if you were comfortable with it. We know it can always stand improvement. My daughter-in-law is a Geeral Surgeon in nothern Minnisota. She operates about 6 times per day. She said over 75% of her patients come in from Canada where they cannot get the service needed.

Rocky

 

I wouldn't know any of the particulars of her practice but most Canadian patients that go to the U.S. for treatment are there because the health service here sends them there due to it being more cost-effective to send patients to the U.S. at times and also cause it will sometimes be a case where time is a factor in the likely success of treatment. So no, there are no lines of shaky and dying health care refugees waiting to enter America from Canada.

 

Yes there are those who go to the U.S. due to not wanting to have to wait their turn in line like everyone else for service or it is an entirely elective procedure which more often then not is not covered by the system. Do you want tax dollars funding elective procedures? I don't!

 

Also our system is not truly national but is ran by the individual provinces and quality of coverage and care can vary from province to province. In other words, your mileage may vary. This is what concerns me when I hear about U.S politicos yapping about how it should be done by the states, not Washington. If changes are made but the states are put in charge it'll take another generation to effectively change anything because then it'll take that amount of time to win the battle at the state level. Oppenents of health care reform know this and will delay true progress at all costs. Shouldn't all citizens of a nation have access to an equal standard of health care? Did you know that Sarah Palin was up here recently telling us that we need to dismantle our system and let private business run it for us? How about American health care outfits that are trying to dismantle our Medicare via NAFTA claiming that Medicare is a "trade barrier".

 

Granted, no system is perfect and sometimes people simply fall through the cracks (should never happen but that's an unfortunate reality).

 

The bottom line is that people shouldn't be able to get to the head of the queue simply by stroking a cheque.

 

Sorry Rocky. We have a system up here that works for the overwhelming majority of folks and I'm getting tired of politicos and politically/bottom-line minded doctors bashing our system in the media to promote their own selfish agenda. I know that you didn't mean it to be such but someone could look at your post and erroneously conclude that 75% of Canadians can't get the care they need. It's this kind of misinformation that the opponents of health care reform take full advantage of. I simply can't believe the debate that rages over this in the U.S. The odd thing is that if the monies involved were earmarked for the DoD there wouldn't even be a word said about it but then again that would be spending the coin in a "non-socialist" way. I never thought that there would be such contention over an issue that anyone with a sense of decency knows it's a no-brainer. BTW if private insurance (and yes there is private insurance here as well) can be competitive co-existing with the public system I would have no problem with having that option but private insurance doesn't want that, they want NO public option so they can just drive the premiums up as high as they want. So, Conservatives for Patients Rights, where's the choice in that exactly?

 

One last food for thought. One issue up here is a lack of qualified health care professionals. One of the biggest reasons for this is that people up here will decide to go to school so they then get years of taxpayer-funded student loans, get their degree and then bugger off to the U.S. or another foreign country giving nothing back to their homeland that heavily subsidized their education in the first place. Ingrates! This infuriates me and I think that if someone does this then there should be a very heavy penalty imposed. We shouldn't subsidize someone's education for the benefit of foreign nations. Foreign students studying here pay higher then Canadian students as well. I know a fellow and his wife here that moved back here after decades in America simply due to being laid off in Seattle and then discovering that it would be $3,500/ month to continue their health care plan. I don't know about you but I don't pay an extra $3,500 in taxes every month to fund Medicare. Mind you someone living in a foreign country for most of their working career contributing nothing to their home nation and then returning upon retirement so they can suck off the public teat is maddening as well.

 

Sorry for the lengthy sorta OT response to this OT topic but sometimes the nonsense regarding this all this gets to me. Flame at will! heh

 

BTW, I don't yet have tinnitus but I've learned preventative measures courtesy of this forum. Thanks Guys!

 

Cheers

Newf

[Rocky McDougall]

 

I wouldn't know any of the particulars of her practice but most Canadian patients that go to the U.S. for treatment are there because the health service here sends them there due to it being more cost-effective to send patients to the U.S. at times and also cause it will sometimes be a case where time is a factor in the likely success of treatment.

 

Cheers

Newf

 

Are you saying that the Canadian health care system is paying for the US treatments?

[TimR]

 

I wouldn't know any of the particulars of her practice but most Canadian patients that go to the U.S. for treatment are there because the health service here sends them there due to it being more cost-effective to send patients to the U.S. at times and also cause it will sometimes be a case where time is a factor in the likely success of treatment.

 

Cheers

Newf

 

Are you saying that the Canadian health care system is paying for the US treatments?

 

I believe that happens here in the UK. Certain procedures like Assisted Conception are only done in private hospitals but the NHS will fund a certain number of attempts. The private hospital then bills the NHS.

[Rocky McDougall]

I still find Nef's explanation a little confusing. Is the Canadian system paying for it's citizens to get treatment in the US? Why are certain procedures more cost effective in the US? What is ment by "time factor"???? I am not trying to be critical, I just would like to know how it works.

Rocky

[TimR]

My guitarist friend took 6 months out from playing. He got some custom earplugs and now never plays without them. I saw them playing again back in June. He still has the tinnitus but is coping.

[wraub]

FWIW, I have worn some sort of hearing protection to every practice, rehearsal, gig, and shows by other bands, since I started seeing and playing live music.

 

My standby has always been the Sonic II plugs, which I saw disparaged in an above post, but have always worked for me.

(The secret, apparently, is judicious cleaning with careful attention to the internal cylinder of the plug.)

 

Been playing music for an absurdly long time, and seeing live music played for even longer, and my hearing is A-OK.

 

If you want to make music for as long as possible, protect your ears, always.

 

Just sayin'.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

 

 

[Eric Iverson]

As a 16 year old kid playing guitar loud in small rooms, I'd get a ringing in my ears that lasted for a couple of hours. Once in a while I'll get a little of it if I listen to music loud through headphones, so now I back off a bit on the volume.

I haven't been exposed to super high volumes onstage for quite some time - my amp is loud enough to be heard onstage and then they mike it through the system at the church, or did so when I was still playing there.

Last time I remember it was a kid playing bass who felt he needed to be heard, not only in the church (I heartily agree) but in the NEXT COUNTY (I heartily disagree, LOL) especially if his speakers were right at my ear level. But that was a long time ago, and he now plays loud enough to be heard but not be overbearing.

 

[Chad Thorne]

Not off topic at all, unfortunately. Everybody, protect your ears!

[Bottom End]

+1

I have about 20% high frequency hearing loss due to my previous career, fortunately the ringing in my ears is only noticeable when I'm tired or listen to music too loud.

 

 

[abemo]

+1

I have about 20% high frequency hearing loss due to my previous career, fortunately the ringing in my ears is only noticeable when I'm tired or listen to music too loud.

 

Same, I notice the ring if musics off, tv's off, fans are off, otherwise it isn't noticeable. Even so, I always plug up for practices, shows the plugs always fall out.

[TimR]

These ER20 are frequently banded about here and on other forums. I bought a pair and can testify as to how good they are.

[WCriley]

The ringing in my ears has been getting progressively worse over the years. The result of many years in bands, construction and the military...often without proper protection.

 

Had my hearing checked this morning. I'm about on par for my age (58) except for a HUGE dip centered at 4K. The audiologist (who happens to be a sax player) said the dip is typical for the abuse my ears have had.

 

I'm being fitted for a set of ER15 earplugs next Friday to try to save what's left.

[TimR]

A few pages of useful info here:

 

http://www.deafnessresearch.org.uk/1925/about-tinnitus/what-is-tinnitus.html

[Eric Iverson]

One thing that helps is to set the speakers so that they aren't at ear level. And your amp doesn't have to be right behind you - I always have my guitar amp to the side. I hear it plenty well, but it doesn't damage my hearing.

But we're talking a little Fender Princeton amp at 3 or 4, not a Marshall stack dimed... not sure how relevant my experience is.