Today i decided to play on my Mustang 1 louder than usual, 8 volume, Master 4. Well I siwthced over the a puk setting and for some reason 8 didnt seem loud enough so I switch to 10 volume, still not loud enough. I then proceeded to put the master on 10 with Distortion and wow my ears felt like they were in pain, so I turned it off and next thing I know everything is muted and every loud sound seems to make my ears hurt a little.

Are my ears permanently damaged?

When will they be back to normal?

What should I do?

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You have hurt your ears. But you knew that. Yes, you have now suffered some hearing loss and it will be permanent, BUT you likely won't notice it really at all, after a day or so your ears will recover and "feel" normal. This will not likely be a problem, unless you keep doing foolishness like this on a regular basis. Then you will begin to notice that in noisy situations, you can hear and identify who is talking, but will not understand what they are saying. Then maybe the worst part......tinnitus.....the dreadful ringing in your ears that will NEVER go away, and that there is really no real treatment for. Take care of your ears, because to a musician, they are your most valuable sense. I ruined my hearing, do not ruin yours! Keep in mind, each time you make your ears feel like how you just described, you just lost a little more hearing

Did it sound as though you were standing next to an army TANK when they fired the BIG GUN
----Danny, Maybe you shold see a Med. Dr.

Make sure you protect your ears!! There's not much fun in playing guitar if you can't hear what you're playing.

You can get some cheap disposable earplugs at the drug store that will more than do the job. It'll only cost you a few bucks.

An even better option is going to either Guitar Center or a sporting goods store with hunting supplies and picking up some re-usable earplugs. Many of the better ones have filters which lower the overall decibel level but still allow certain certain frequencies to be heard (this makes the music a little less muddy sounding). Great for noisy guitar practice and for concerts, too! You should be able to get a decent pair for less than $20.

It's also a good idea to keep the volume levels turned down a bit when you practice -- no need to annoy the neighbors all the time! Any it might keep you from blowing out a speaker, too...

Over the years I've been in situations where my ears were paining after a gig but usually after a jam in a small practice area.Auditory damage depends on several criteria,the most important being the nomber of decibels reached and the period of time at maximum volume.If your exposure was just for a couple of minutes,it's not likely that permanent damage has occured but ear pain is a definite warning sign that shouldn't be ignored.

Next to his/her ahnds a musicians ears are their most important parts and any pain or or discomfort whatsoever should be seen as a very serious warning.If you continue to play at high volume you'll definitely need some ear protection.I use Vater Percussion ear plugs and they cut down the volume several decibels with 2 pairs of baffles of different ratings and they don't affect the frequency response.Whatever you do don't ignore this warning sign or you may be spending your golden years in silence robbed of the pleasure of music.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

It will FEEL normal after a few minutes, maybe an hour. I get that at concerts all the time, since I generally lose ear plugs to intense thrashing of the head by the second or third song .

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Favorite bands:

Melvins
The Jesus Lizard
Cows
Big Business
R***man
Minutemen
Flight
Minor Threat
Big Black
Shellac
Karp
Scratch Acid
Wipers
Pixies

Aight for the most part everything is fine now, m just gonna be more cautious, ipods only goin hlaf loud from now on, unless im gigin(at which ill wear earplugs) my amp isnt comin off 4 master, and at most only 8 volume. Luckily my dad works for delta so earplugs in surplus are free. Thanks guys.

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Also remember to stay away from in ear headphones, they can seriously f*** up your hearing.

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Favorite bands:

Melvins
The Jesus Lizard
Cows
Big Business
R***man
Minutemen
Flight
Minor Threat
Big Black
Shellac
Karp
Scratch Acid
Wipers
Pixies

what????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!what did you say????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I can't hear you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sadly I've already killed my ears at 12.

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I LIKE PIE!!!!!

IF I DO SOMETHING STUPID,DON'T SAY A WORD...

I was told that I was hearing impaired 15 years ago. It's not easy to
communicate at normal volume now but I refuse to get a hearing aid
because I'd rather still hear things 'naturally'.

These weren't around back in my 'louder years', but I'd recommend them :

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/herose.html

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

ironically i bought a pair today, i keep it low though

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Negative Creep, here's what you're looking at for the future. I had trouble understanding conversations for several years. I finally went in and got tested. My hearing is deficient in the upper frequencies which is typical for people that are around loud enviroments. I decided to get the best hearing aids I could find because I thought it was that important. They cost $7,500 for both ears, yeah no $@!&!. I've had them for a couple of months. The hearing aids maintain data on how I'm using them and the tech downloads the data and we adjust the programs to get them to work better for me. All done by the computer and bluetooth. I have a music program that is just starting to work well. If I shut the hearing aids off, the notes on the high E and B strings above the 12th fret sound dead, like I need new strings. With the hearing aids on, I hear the resonance but not pure like it used to sound. I'm hoping a couple more months of fine tuning and they will be as good as they're going to get. Getting olds a $@!&*.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

they're good. i keep mine on my ipod when i do use it on 0 and strange enough it still makes a sound

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riley

That's where I'm at right now, very frustrating, I blame it on the brass section back in high school. Sat right in front of them, and maybe Master of Puppets, used to blast that $@!& on the Walkman (remember those?) on the bus ride home.

mr. creep, besides playing loud music, i also enjoy shooting guns. i never wear ear plugs while playing music or shooting guns unless it's the 44 mag. i have suffered minimal hearing but have experienced the same pain you described.
i'm just plain stupid and lucky. protect those ears.