Remember when you first got tinnitus?

[16251]

Thinking of Aidan's situation makes me think of my tinnitus.

 

I'm almost positive it happened the night I saw Maynard Ferguson at Beverly High School in Beverly, MA. They had this Peavey sound system that reached the ceiling and I was sitting right in line with it on one side. He had his big band with 4/5 trumpet players...do the math.

 

I remember trying to cover my ears but in the end I just endured it, since it wasn't a constant stream of music. Soon after I started hearing a ringing.

[hurricane hugo]

what?

[theGman]

huh?

 

[Brettymike]

Mine is now ringing louder seeing this.

 

Brett

[Song80s]

Thinking of Aidan's situation makes me think of my tinnitus.

 

I'm almost positive it happened the night I saw Maynard Ferguson at Beverly High School in Beverly, MA. They had this Peavey sound system that reached the ceiling and I was sitting right in line with it on one side. He had his big band with 4/5 trumpet players...do the math.

 

I remember trying to cover my ears but in the end I just endured it, since it wasn't a constant stream of music. Soon after I started hearing a ringing.

 

I trace my tinnitus to Cheap trick at House of Blues/LA. pushed right in front of a large PA column. It was insane loud.

 

I had my hearing tested last month and 4 yrs ago. There is no cure for tinnitus. I only or mostly have it in my right ear. It is annoying .

[marino]

Several years ago I woke up in the middle of the night with a LOUD, very high whistle/sine wave in my right ear. It was really impossibly loud. After two days it was still there. After the initial panic attack, I got my ear professionally cleaned, and in a couple of hours it went away, just like that. Whew.

 

A couple of years ago, it started again, not so loud and not continuous.... it goes in episodes, and it seems to be more present in moments of big stress. Then, lest year, I got a big larsen feedback from a nearby speaker at school, and the episodes became more frequent aftet that.

I'm in constant fear that it becomes permanent.

 

 

[Daniel Heslop]

11 years ago I started experiencing tinnitus, hearing loss and dizziness.

Turned out to be a virus, and I remain with 90% loss in my left ear, constant hissing, sometimes ringing too, and occasional bouts of vertigo.

 

I now have some tinnitus in my right ear, which I suspect is age and heredity.

[Joe Muscara]

I had it temporarily a number of times over the years, always due to concerts. Several times the concert was Living Colour! Damn you, Vernon Reid!!!!

 

I had been using earplugs with my band, but we began to manage the volume with a new drummer and all was well, so I stopped using them. Then we auditioned a new guitar player and I didn't realize the volume crept up throughout the jam. Also, I was fighting a cold (I've had several people tell me the onset happened to them when they were sick). When I realized my ears were ringing, particularly my left ear, I knew it was different that time. It's been with me ever since. I don't always notice it, but it's there.

[ITGITC]

I trace my tinnitus to Cheap trick at House of Blues/LA. pushed right in front of a large PA column. It was insane loud.

 

Cheap Trick?...

 

Me too.

 

Nashville concert at the Gibson custom guitar shop when our band won the Battle of the Bands competition and went on to LA!

 

I usually blame stuff on D-Bon, but I read where he never attends a concert without earplugs.

 

So the only person I have left to blame is...

 

Rick Nielsen.

[DulceLabs.com]

White noise helps a lot so I run a fan most of the time.

[Dana.]

I usually blame stuff on D-Bon, but I read where he never attends a concert without earplugs.

Did someone say my name?

[JeffLearman]

Mine is now ringing louder seeing this.

Mine too!

 

I usually blame stuff on D-Bon

It's definitely his fault.

 

Mine didn't suddenly appear. I first noticed it back in 1979 or so, as a fledgeling home recording "engineer", straining to hear details, and noticing that ... my ears ring! Actually, I think I was testing my hearing range or something like that. Well how quiet does that 17k tone need to be before I can no longer hear it? Um ... gee ... the gain is now at zero and it's still there! Along with a few other notes, all over 12K, IIRC.

 

And I still hear them, only they're quite a bit louder, whereas anything real over 8K is considerably quieter (along with a lot of stuff over 4K too).

 

So, JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT TINNITUS! Find some damn code word to use in headlines, only don't tell me what it means, only that I don't want to know about it. Like, um .... sheep!

[MAJUSCULE]

I live in constant fear. I wouldn't be surprised if I already have minor tinnitus, although I've never had it checked out. Nothing permanent or painful yet, so I'm just gonna keep carrying earplugs everywhere I go and praying that they discover a cure before I need it.

[Song80s]

I live in constant fear. I wouldn't be surprised if I already have minor tinnitus, although I've never had it checked out. Nothing permanent or painful yet, so I'm just gonna keep carrying earplugs everywhere I go and praying that they discover a cure before I need it.

 

according to kaiser, there is no cure. its complex, with nerve damage.

 

always get your hearing checked regularly, and track hearing loss

[Song80s]

Mine is now ringing louder seeing this.

Mine too!

 

I usually blame stuff on D-Bon

It's definitely his fault.

 

Mine didn't suddenly appear. I first noticed it back in 1979 or so, as a fledgeling that. Well how quiet does that 17k tone need to be before I can no longer hear it?

 

So, JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT TINNITUS! Find some damn code word to use in headlines, only don't tell me what it means, only that I don't want to know about it. Like, um .... sheep!

 

is the term D-bonitus taken ???

[Kenny.]

Some people can't understand why I wear my in ear monitors in nearly every one of my performances. This would be why. I don't like taking any chances with stuff like this, and therefore, I wear them as much as possible.

 

I can get a fantastic seal - with almost zero outside noise, which makes it easy to listen at very low levels. Also, the flat sound signature in the models I use is absolutely fantastic (and far better than any wedge monitor I've heard).

[xKnuckles]

I have minor tinnitus. I know exactly when it happened: I was playing with a loud rock band and the PA produced an extremely loud bang one night (don't know why). Immediate tinnitus. BUT - on the bright side - The next day I went straight to a hearing specialist and ordered a pair of musicians earplugs (something I had never had before). Expensive, but superb. I hear all frequencies perfectly, but at a very low level. Good for singing etc. And after a couple of weeks, you don't know you are wearing them and everything sounds just as exciting as before.

 

The tinnitus is still there, but doesn't bother me

at all - I just accept it the way I accept all other unavoidable noises. (Traffics etc.) Fortunately it is not loud. I am grateful that it spurred me into getting the plugs - so will probably have prevented me from further hearing problems later on in life.

 

I keep those plugs on me at all times and put them in whenever I am worried about how loud a band I am listening to is.

[DulceLabs.com]

 

is the term D-bonitus taken ???

 

[video:youtube]

[Michael Wright]

I never go anywhere without earplugs in my pocket, just in case. As it is if my wife walks ahead of me and speaks, I routinely have to ask her to face me or stand beside me at least, to talk "at" me. I have been messing around with iem's because I can't tolerate the stage volume guys feel the need to play at anymore.

[Joe Muscara]

To add to my previous post, I'm another one that got myself a set of quality musician's earplugs when the T hit (I've seen some groups online refer to the condition as simply T).

 

I love these things - I bring them with me everywhere and the sound coming though is flat. Unlike most generic ones or foam, these just sound like someone has turned down the volume. Also, if someone is messing with the PA and there's feedback, I barely notice while everyone else dives. When I take them out at the end of a concert, I'm often surprised how loud the din of the crowd is, even as they're leaving.

 

That being said, I do carry spare generic plugs a couple of places just in case. I went to a concert and had left my custom plugs in my coat from my own gig which was still at home, and that concert happened to be loud in a small venue. I had no plugs, and took a few breaks during the show outside to rest my ears. I have enough generic plugs that I now carry pairs in a few strategic places.

[jay da cop]

mine is from a combination of factors. Being in the military for 24 years, in the infantry, I don't think I need expound. As a police and military firearms instructor, this fairly well took care of the rest. Years of firing ranges under a canopy, regardless of the hearing protection, has taken a toll. Of course, being in bands for years thinking I was indestructible doesn't help. The whine is quite loud, but the only time it really gets annoying is when people are talking to me but not facing me, as Michael Wright mentioned (and my wife is really nice about it) or when I am trying to go to sleep.

[DanL]

If I could go back in time and prevent the damage I've done, I would. Listening to Boston and Styx with headphones blasting was the 1st. One of my early bands had a guitar so loud you could feel the notes hitting you. In the 90's one of my bands was so loud not only did my ears ring, but I had cymbal like overtones and could hear the leslie swirling in those tones, while laying in bed. But all of that was always temporary. I don't think it got as bad as it is now until I started riding a motorcycle, and not from the engine, but from the wind noise blasting in my helmet. I always wear earplugs when riding now, and use IEM's as much as I can when playing out. Unfortunately there are a fair amount of situations where that isn't possible.

[MorayM]

I've mentioned it before, but at a Yes gig earlier this year. I left my plugs at home and unfortunately there was a problem with the sound early on which left me with loads of weird overtones ringing afterwards, far more than I'd got from other "unprotected" gigs in the past. Fortunately the worst of them disappeared over the next week but there's still some there.

 

I've stopped noticing them in everyday life but I still notice it when I'm trying to sleep and when I've got headphones on or IEMs in. The latter is particularly annoying as I'm now paranoid about sound levels at gigs, and being reminded of the consequences as soon as I plug up is not good for finding pre-gig calm.

 

I'm hoping every day it'll get better over time but it's not looking likely. Although when I look back at some of the gigs I've played and attended, I'm surprised I made it to 25 without any noticeable effects!

[Ken Beaumont]

Unfortunately, even with care ear damage can happen. I was in the Air Force and spent a lot of time around jets. I took great care in always using ear protection.

 

One morning I woke up and couldn't stand. The vertigo had me hugging the floor, there was LOUD ringing in my left ear. The doctor said I experienced a lack of blood to my ear. It left me with a bad hearing loss in my left ear and tinnitus. I don't notice it anymore unless I concentrate on it. The ear can be corrected with hearing aid, but my right ear has actually compensated. The only time it bugs me is when someone speaks to me in group and they are on my left side. Or when I stick a pair of headphones on and realize the stereo image is so badly done that the right side sounds like crap because the left side has most of audio. I have had to turn the headphones around which is uncomfortable.

 

If I lie on my right side with me ear into the pillow I cannot hear a television or my wife asking me to do something. Which can sometimes be a plus

[Adan]

I don't have it, yet, and I'm being more careful than ever.

 

The incidents that have hurt the most, it seems, are the stupid mistakes made with sound systems, like someone letting their mic drop right in front of a speaker. It's one thing to say "I heard ringing after a PInk Floyd show, but what a show!" But to lose part of your hearing because of a momentary lapse of caution at a rehearsal would really sting.

 

Folks should be thinking about stuff like driving in a car, opening the windows, and cranking the stereo so it can be heard over the windnoise. That's a lot for your ears to handle but since you're adjusting to it gradually, you may not notice.

 

I wear earplugs on my motorcycle for the windnoise. Even my electric motorcycle!

[Ken Beaumont]

I wear earplugs on my motorcycle for the windnoise. Even my electric motorcycle!

 

No earplugs, but a helmet stops the wind noise and protects your head too!!!

 

I used a half helmet once, it covered the ears and back of my head but not the face. I wore goggles to protect the eyes. One day doing about 60 mph a car tire threw a rock in my face it hit me right in the forehead above my goggles, but below the helmet. It nearly knocked me out, I have never been hit so hard. I had a huge lump there for days! The next day I bought a full face shield helmet!

[WillNeverPost]

I once had ringing in my ears right after a concert. Back in '77 listening to a band called FM (this one) in a hall much too small for all that amplification. That one brief exposure apparently (hopefully!) had no long-term effect (confirmed by audio tests several years later) and I have been very careful with my ears every since.

 

PS. FM were a very good prog-rock band back then. I highly recommend the albums Black Noise and Direct to Disc.

[DanL]

I wear earplugs on my motorcycle for the windnoise. Even my electric motorcycle!

 

No earplugs, but a helmet stops the wind noise and protects your head too!!!

 

I used a half helmet once, it covered the ears and back of my head but not the face. I wore goggles to protect the eyes. One day doing about 60 mph a car tire threw a rock in my face it hit me right in the forehead above my goggles, but below the helmet. It nearly knocked me out, I have never been hit so hard. I had a huge lump there for days! The next day I bought a full face shield helmet!

 

I wear a full face and the wind noise is still too much to not wear earplugs.

[JeffLearman]

I live in constant fear. I wouldn't be surprised if I already have minor tinnitus, although I've never had it checked out.

No need to have it checked out. If it's not bugging you, then you're good. Unless you're a mastering engineer, there's no need to find out whether you have it or not, and if you have it, the only treatment is to learn to not dislike it, so your mind doesn't treat it as a threat and naturally filters it out.

 

I used a half helmet once, it covered the ears and back of my head but not the face. I wore goggles to protect the eyes. One day doing about 60 mph a car tire threw a rock in my face it hit me right in the forehead above my goggles, but below the helmet. It nearly knocked me out, I have never been hit so hard. I had a huge lump there for days! The next day I bought a full face shield helmet!

Yikes. Just a month or so ago, I was driving on an empty freeway, and BAM! out of nowhere, something hit the middle of my windscreen. It was really loud and sharp and left an odd indelible mark, but no visible crack. There were no cars in sight, going either direction, so I can't imagine what it might have been, other than a bullet fired from far away. Either that or a meteor!

 

I've seen too many things hit my windscreen to want to make a habit of biking without a good helmet.

[Ken Beaumont]

My next bike will have a windshield. Its amazing how much pain a simple thing like a big bug can make when it hits you in the neck at high speed!