TINITUS

[Gordon Thudmaster May]

[b]Do you suffer from Tinitus?[/b]
[b]If so does this affect your playing?[/b]
[b]Are there any ways of easing the problem?[/b]
[b]The 'Whistling' in my ears is driving me potty![/b]

[chrismuzz]

Luckily i only get it quietly at random times, it's been loud enough to disturb the TV when its on very quietly but thats it... for now

[franzbassist]

Is it constant, or just after gigs? If the former, then it's probably permanent, but if it's the latter then take it as a warning sign and start using earplugs. In fact, use them anway if you want to keep playing. I would highly recommend getting some proper in-ear moulded earplugs like Elacin ER15s.

It's very hard to recommend treatments etc. as every case is so different. Some people use masking devices to help them sleep, apparently zinc implants can do a job for some etc., but in the 15-odd years I've had tinnitus the best advice I was given was by an audiologist who said "Just get on with your life and try not to worry about it".

[flyfisher]

Fortunately not, but then I don't play in 'bleeding ears' type bands.

Frankly, I've never understood musicians - who depend on their hearing - not taking more care of their ears, especially when it is so easily done. It's like a painter or photographer sticking pins in their eyes. Why?

[paul torch]

I read something recently on the BBC news site where they were discussing some kind of new treatment for it.

Luckily I don't suffer (yet) but my Nan had a tough time of it after working in a factory for decades with no ear protection.

[obbm]

I've had it for the best part of 30 years and as far as I'm concerned there is no fix so I just ignore it and get on with things. Most of the time I hardly notice that I have it.

[ezbass]

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1337158960' post='1656256'] "Just get on with your life and try not to worry about it".
[/quote]
[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1337159595' post='1656272']
I've had it for the best part of 30 years and as far as I'm concerned there is no fix so I just ignore it and get on with things. Most of the time I hardly notice that I have it.
[/quote]
The 2 post above are pretty much spot on for me, it's a nuisance when you're in a beautifully serene environment and then you become aware of the 'wheeee' but that's probably the worst of it for me. However, I know that some people suffer much worse than this. Occasionally it annoys when I'm trying to go to sleep and if I concentrate on making it 'seem' quieter this helps, almost like a mental filter. In terms of playing it's never been a problem. The only times I've been aware of it being a problem is with high pitched, quiet alarms like that found on ovens, etc, Mrs Ez has been known to say "The 'pinger' is going, can't you hear that?". In the larger scheme of things, not a biggie really.

[Gordon Thudmaster May]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1337159150' post='1656266']
Fortunately not, but then I don't play in 'bleeding ears' type bands.

Frankly, I've never understood musicians - who depend on their hearing - not taking more care of their ears, especially when it is so easily done. It's like a painter or photographer sticking pins in their eyes. Why?
[/quote]

Never played in 'bleeding ears' type of band! Country/folk/roots is what I do! Most times it's just mildly amplified! So can't explain how it decided it should be me!

[Muzz]

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1337159595' post='1656272']
I've had it for the best part of 30 years and as far as I'm concerned there is no fix so I just ignore it and get on with things. Most of the time I hardly notice that I have it.
[/quote]

Not been aware of it until the last few months, after one horrendous gig in particular (a guitard's Line 6 12" combo at friggin head height was the cause), so I guess I've dodged that particular bullet for a long time, but it's there now. More aware of it trying to get to sleep at night, and now I'm typing about it, but it doesn't prevent me doing much. Needless to say, in the traditional stable-door-bolted-horse manner, my custom ACS ER15s arrive this week...

[franzbassist]

[quote name='Gordon 'Thudmaster' May' timestamp='1337161881' post='1656316']
Never played in 'bleeding ears' type of band! Country/folk/roots is what I do! Most times it's just mildly amplified! So can't explain how it decided it should be me!
[/quote]

It may not even be down to music, although constant exposure over the years can certainly do it, even at moderate levels. Tinnitus can be caused by extreme, one-off trauma, or a few loud percussive events, just as easily as it can by sticking your head in a bass bin at a Megadeaf concert! It can also come on naturally later in life as part of the wear and tear of getting older.

The key, once you have it, is managing it and making sure you minimise the chances of it getting worse. I've worn moulded earplugs for about 15 years and would never gig without them. The technology is so good that I find I enjoy the music more now as it's much less fatiguing.

[Happy Jack]

I've had tinnitus for a while now. In fact, I've probably had it far longer than I realise, because I didn't get it from music ... I got it from spending far too much time riding very loud motorbikes (Buells with Vance & Hines or Screaming Eagles pipes, KTMs fitted with Akropovic systems, etc.).

It was only getting back into music that led to me realising how much damage I'd done.

I now routinely wear ER15s when playing or ER25s at other people's gigs, and that's stopping the damage getting any (much?) worse, but as I understand it I have little chance of getting rid of it.

On a side note, I have a full medical every year, including a proper hearing test. My hearing is near perfect, the only issue being a dip in the right ear's sensitivity at one frequency, which was apparently caused by being in the shooting team at school - in those days, ear defenders were for wimps. Allegedly.

So tinnitus doesn't necessarily degrade your hearing, it can just irritate the hell out of you instead.

[Dave Vader]

i got used to it, and enjoy using ShergoldSnickers advice and using it as a tuner.

I also like the odd days when my ears are in harmony, such as a minor third.
(One is tinnitus from very loud music, the other is knackered from a fall off a cliff 15 years ago, different pitches, lovely).

[Thunderthumbs]

I was diagnosed a few years ago. As has been pointed out, there really isn't a cure for it, so it really is a mental thing to try and block it out/ignore it.

I've found now that the only times I really notice it, is when I'm in a virtually silent environment, or when I'm actually talking to somebody about it, as it then becomes a focal point.

It came from years of having a drummer down my right ear, but I don't play in a loud environment any more.

I did struggle to sleep because of it initially, but I have a radio on quiet all night now, and it very rarely causes me any problems. The worst was trying to have an hour's kip on a motorway services on a long overnight drive. Pulled into a dark corner of the car park, settled down, but the silence just exacerbated the tinnitus. Had no sleep whatsoever. Since then, I just find it easier to have a driving partner, and sleep while they drive.

[chris_b]

[b]Do you suffer from Tinitus? [/b]Yes. Loud guitarists did it for me.

[b]If so does this affect your playing? [/b]No. Well, technically, yes. I have to wear ear plugs.

[b]Are there any ways of easing the problem? [/b]No. Only Earplugs. I have moulded ER15's.

[b]The 'Whistling' in my ears is driving me potty! [/b]<shrug> Yep. The only option is to deal with it

[dmccombe7]

[sub]I have a regular hearing test every 2 yrs but have only started playing in classic rock band last year. I have noted on occasion that cymbals affect my hearing to a certain degree. Not painful but noticeable.[/sub]
[sub]I think i should maybe look at earplugs in more detail.[/sub]
[sub]I have a slight drop in one ear due to loud bikes in my 20's but still above average and would like to keep it that way.[/sub]

[sub]Are there any other recommended ear plugs for musicians as Elacin require you to attend their clinic in London.[/sub]
[sub]Somewhere more local to Glasgow would be nice or can they be bought over internet ?[/sub]

[sub]Dave[/sub]

[discreet]

If you're suffering from tinnitus that means you already have significant hearing damage. As I'm now playing in a loud band I wear ER20s, which are cheap and work very well. You can still hear everything clearly, but they filter out SPLs that would otherwise damage your hearing.

Great for bands, gigs, F1, clay-pigeon shooting, etc - you can hold a conversation and you don't get that isolated feeling you get with plugs that block all sound. In fact I've started to wear them as a matter of course when I go out... my own little bubble of calm. it's a LOUD world out there, people. If you're playing in [i]any [/i]kind of band [i]you should wear earplugs[/i] - prevention is better than cure.

[url="http://www.splugz.co.uk/"]http://www.splugz.co.uk/[/url]

I have no interest in or association with Splugz Ltd!

[Jazzneck]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1337162810' post='1656329']
I've had tinnitus for a while now. In fact, I've probably had it far longer than I realise, because I didn't get it from music ...

It was only getting back into music that led to me realising how much damage I'd done.

On a side note, I have a full medical every year, including a proper hearing test. My hearing is near perfect, the only issue being a dip in the right ear's sensitivity at one frequency,

So tinnitus doesn't necessarily degrade your hearing, it can just irritate the hell out of you instead.
[/quote]

This .... but left ear.
and mine was caused by a drummer bashing a ride cymbal during set up about 2cm. from my ear whilst i was plugging in my amp.
The constant hissing can drive me nuttier at times.
BTW, the drummer went home that night with a very large bruise on his upper arm - funny that he hasn't done it again.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='Gordon 'Thudmaster' May' timestamp='1337158257' post='1656238']
[b]Do you suffer from Tinitus?[/b][/quote]

Yup! 36 Slade concerts and a dozen or so Motorhead did it for me. Just got used to it, but have noticed it can get worse now just by listening to normal level radio, hi-fi etc. (Might be my imagination).
It was checking that a Hiwatt 4 x 12 did or didn't have a dead speaker at a Slade tribute sound-check that finally made it permanent, one second of not thinking straight and "ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss".

[chris_b]

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1337164263' post='1656359']
....[sub]Are there any other recommended ear plugs for musicians as Elacin require you to attend their clinic in London....[/sub]
[/quote]

Not true. I got my ACS moulds done at David Ormerod. There should be one in all large Boots stores. Usually they are situated next to the opticians department.

[Paul S]

Specsavers also. Get some - my ears don't ring any more after rehearsals, whereas they always used to even with the 'off-the-shelf' ear plus.

I have it quite badly, with a background 'whoosh' noise as if I have a motorway at the end of my garden plus a high pitched 'whee' like the old 'TV has been left on after transmission finished' noise. I read it once described once as 'brain boredom' - if you are in a quiet situation with nothing going on you hear it. If you are busy with lots of background noise your brain gets distracted and it isn't there. It is annoying sometimes, very occasionally it drives me nuts, but you get on with life around it. I have been prescribed beta-histine by my GP, a drug that deals with inner ear things such as imbalance and Ménière's disease. I take it once daily, more when it is bad on which occasions I do actually feel that it helps.

Ironically, perhaps, I need to wear hearing aids because my overall level of hearing is terrible and, when earing those, having all the day to day noises piped straight into my ears masks the tinnitus.

Edited May 16, 2012 by Paul S

[musophilr]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1337164256' post='1656357']
[b]Do you suffer from Tinitus? [/b]Yes. Loud guitarists did it for me.

[b]If so does this affect your playing? [/b]No. Well, technically, yes. I have to wear ear plugs.

[b]Are there any ways of easing the problem? [/b]No. Only Earplugs. I have moulded ER15's.

[b]The 'Whistling' in my ears is driving me potty! [/b]<shrug> Yep. The only option is to deal with it
[/quote]

Almost this ^. It was repeated monitoring music on headphones for long periods of time daily that did it to me.

It can stop me hearing what the bloke next to me is saying in the pub and it spoils my listening to music, but if I stopped to think about it, I would go crazy. Just don't think about it.

[andrewrx7]

I have mild tinitus. Pretty sure it was drummer related, cymbals etc, although the rhythm guitarist we used to have tended to ramp himself up and drown everyone else out. He's not with us now. But I have been using earplugs since I started to notice the ringing was not going away after gigs, and since then, it has halted the progression. Even though it is only a low whine, I am aware of it when I think about it, like now! But, thankfully, even with stupidly loud gigs, the ears show no signs of the whining getting any worse. Personally, I now never go anywhere loud without earplugs. Always wear them at any rehearsal and live show. I just don't want to exacerbate the situation and trigger an event whereby the whine gets significantly worse for the rest of my life. I use the ER20s. For me, they certainly do cut alot of the higher frequencies, which makes the "sound" of the gig pretty muddy, and often gives me the impression of overpowering bass in the mix, but we know that is not the case from the sound check. That is the only down side for me, as I feel tempted to knock back the lower frequencies when playing, but I know I shouldn't as it is an artifact of the ear plugs. So in an indirect way, yes, it does affect the playing to some degree.

[JTUK]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1337165857' post='1656393']
Specsavers also. Get some - my ears don't ring any more after rehearsals, whereas they always used to even with the 'off-the-shelf' ear plus.

.
[/quote]

They do.... £99 for the moulds, IIRC... but they were unsure if you could add IEM at a later date whereas the Boots franchise say they can.

I have to have my ears 'syringed' before they will make a mould....sounds ominous... how much gunk is there to shift..?

[Silvia Bluejay]

Thank you all for a. starting this topic and b. giving precious advice based on your experiences. I haven't got tinnitus at the moment (fingers crossed), and I'm always pretty careful and use (ordinary, cheap) earplugs at gigs, but I have now ordered a pair of "women's size" ER20s and feel safer

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1337162810' post='1656329']My hearing is near perfect, the only issue being a dip in the right ear's sensitivity at one frequency, which was apparently caused by being in the shooting team at school - in those days, ear defenders were for wimps. Allegedly.
[/quote]

I misread that as you being in the 'shouting' team at school, pondered that for a second then re-read it!

I've noticed signs of tinnitus recently too, it's one of the factors that made me quit my loud stoner rock band. I need to get some proper moulded plugs...

Edited May 16, 2012 by dannybuoy