Hi all, well it's here for me again.

I have been a live performing Musician for 24 years.

Last week after jamming in my music room I later discovered when I was lying in bed ready to snooze, a morse code tinnitus ringing in my right ear.

Years ago when I was younger I had Tinnitus but it eventually went away.

It is as scary as $@!& the thought of losing my hearing for obvious reasons that I fear by not being able to hear my children speak, Not being able to hear my lovely Strats, but I don't mind if I suddenly develop selective hearing for the wife though..

I must admit that I have used ear plugs on and off over the years but more so without.

Yes it is my own fault, so I have booked into an Audiologist to have them check my hearing.

I may ask them to custom make ear plugs for me which block certain frequencies..of course that's going to cost me $$$$

I have found some info on the net that interested me....see below.

Okay I am going to try and not sound really condescending. Yes your "problems" are most likely due to the band. The easiest way to explain tinnitus is like the "ghost limb" theory. The hair cells in your inner ear that detect sound and let the auditory nerve know that the brain is hearing sound are arranged in your cochlea. The highest frequency detecting cells are at the bottom of your cochlea, the cells that detect low frequency sounds are at the top. So anytime you hear a sound, even a low frequency sound it must pass through the high frequency detecting cells. This is why most noise induced hearing loss is high frequency. Tinnitus should also cause you to be dizzy since it has to do with your centers of balance in your inner ear as well. If it is just ringing then it is probably the high frequency cells firing, even though there is nothing there, it is a "ghost sound". Ringing in your ears can also be reduced by drinking less caffine and eating foods with less salt. Yes earplugs will help, a lot, there are even special earplugs you can have made that filter certain frequencies, expensive yes, worth it, yes. I suggest that every member of your band wear earplugs. And not just the little foam earplugs you get at the drug store that you roll up and put in your ears. Find an audiologist and have them specially make you custom earplugs that are molded to your ear. Even though you are wearing earplugs they can’t block out everything but they can help and they can slow down the damage that is permanent and irreversable. Don’t stop playing in the band because it’s something you love just protect your hearing because it’s something you can’t get back. Hope this helps.


Ok Fender Friends & Family, if you have any experiences with this please share..

I don't have any direct experience, but fear of hearing loss compels me to wear earplugs at every rehearsal and every gig less the songs I actually sing lead on.

Good luck, and I'd say getting custom plugs will be worth every cent. I wear the construction worker type: a pair of blue rubber cones with little circles of rubber down their length joined by a gaudy orange string. They work great.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

I have Tinnitus quite bad. 21 year in the Air Force working around Jet engines has taken a toll on my ears.. Also being an avid hunter and into all sorts of shooting sports all my life, not to mention Music has left me wishing I have lived my life using a bit more caution than I did.. A few years ago in Iraqi I was very close to 3 incoming mortar rounds that did not help the problems I had already been having. I have had ringing for many years to the point I need to have the tv or radio on to go to bed to drown out the whistle in my head.. Until recently the Government had dismissed my complaining of ringing and said my hearing was fine.. about a year ago they said there were several frequencies my ears did not even pick up and sent me to a specialist. I was diagnosed with high frequency loss and explained to me that was why I could not hear in crowded rooms or understand my wife when she was talking to me (unless I was looking her in the face). Since then about ¾ times a week the ringing goes from its normal always there squeal to an uncontrollable explosion of sound. It comes on so bad that I get sensory over load of sorts. I get tunnel vision that goes to pinpoint blackness and get so dizzy I cant hardly stand…. This only ever lasts for 8 or 10 seconds but it is sure debilitating for those 8 seconds. So far it has never happened while driving my car or while in a million dollar piece of loading equipment pulling up to a multi Billion dollar Military Jet……thing is I almost exclusively use hearing protection, and it still happens….. I would say if you can get special set that will protect better that standard hearing protection I would use them.. the cost can be recovered, Hearing cannot….. In fact thank you im going to look into them as I have never heard of them before….my google quest begins and I guess I need to see my Audiologist and see if there is something better out there than what she gave me..

Cheers
Bill

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I can thoroughly sympathise with you on that one Bill, as I too have bad tinnitus from playing in bands for the last 35 years. I have two hearing aids which are a pain in the arse and I only use them when its absolutely necessary. I cannot hear anything above a certain frequency and even the hearing aids (digital as they are) cannot correct this. I am dizzy all the time and have to think about walking in a straight line (it makes me look like I've had a good time on a pint). I can tell you that hearing aids are crap to a musician as they don't give true tone and I can't wear them when playing, even acoustically. The other thing that high frequency hearing loss does, is ruin a stereo image. That buzz you used to get when listening to your hi-fi is gone forever. I still perform with a band and if I had my time to go over again I would probably still do exactly as I have done as the experience has been mega, but now I live with the consequence.

Martin.

wtcumm00 wrote



That sucks Bill, feel for you, ive worked for 30 odd years in the steel industry, rode motorbikes and listened to music.
Coupled with a no of bad ear infections i get mild tinnitus now. Weird thing is its only got bad enough since the ear problems so i guess it tipped the balance ( ) so to speak.

Alan

Guns,Guitars and Amps,they did it to me....to the point that it has kept me awake at night.
The really scary thing is now at times when things are not too loud,one ear or another will sound like somebody has turned the volume down about halfway and it really rings...it happens suddenly and gradually comes back up,I guess and hope.
Talking on a phone with noise in the background is useless because I can't hear the caller....and at work that's a problem.