Tinnitus!!!!!!!

[police squad]

Who is suffering with this dreadful thing

Mine seems to be the worst it's ever been and I'm worried about gigging with IEMs.

I make sure that they're not loud but I fear it's still getting worse.

It's affecting my hearing too

[Steve Browning]

I have a constant sound and (when it's quiet) a sort of dawn chorus going on in my head.

[ezbass]

I’ve had it for decades and it has become worse recently, despite protection.  

[Marvin]

Mine's gotten worse in the last 6 months.

It's always there, and always been there but it's definitely more noticeable.

Unfortunately, there's little to be done about it. I was told you can get hearing aids that cancel out the noise you hear, but as you'd expect they're expensive 

[BlueMoon]

Yep. Sad to say I have it to varying degrees depending on the setting and background. When I think it’s no longer there I concentrate on it (like they all tell you you shouldn’t), and it pops right back into my consciousness. A real bugger at times.

[Happy Jack]

Had it for many years (loud motorbikes, not huge bass cabs I'm afraid) and I too have recently noticed it getting significantly worse.

 

I find it harder and harder to pick out a conversation against any sort of background noise, whether that's in real life or when watching a TV program ... I live much of my life with subtitles. 🙄

 

It's not debilitating, and it hardly compares with the issues that some of my friends and family are dealing with (cancer, heart attack, etc.), but it's bloody irritating and also depressing to find that there is no cure, no treatment (that works), and no real likelihood of one during my lifetime.

[BigRedX]

The best thing you can do is to not concentrate on it. I can tune mine out a lot of the time. Unfortunately reading this thread has made it obvious again!

[Steve Browning]

 

Don't mention the tinnitus!!

[MacDaddy]

17 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

The best thing you can do is to not concentrate on it. I can tune mine out a lot of the time. Unfortunately reading this thread has made it obvious again!

 

Disagree, IME that's the worst thing to do. The advice I got from an audiologist was to concentrate on it, and listen to it, and eventually your brain reaches a point where it tunes it out automatically. 

For me this has worked, and it is so much better than it used to be to the point that I can now ignore it.

I always wanted to tune it, so that it was a specific pitch and useful for tuning. Never happened though 😆

 

[chris667]

My best mate (a professional pianist of 40 years standing) has recently developed it.

 

The MU sent him to a proper music audiologist in Manchester. They gave him earplugs. So if you're a member, it's worth calling.

 

First step should be a trip to the GP. And a hearing test - many forms of tinnitus and hearing loss can be mitigated. The absolute worst thing you can do is hope it goes away.

[ezbass]

53 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

I find it harder and harder to pick out a conversation against any sort of background noise, whether that's in real life or when watching a TV program

This, for sure. I wear my hearing aids pretty much just for watching TV or if I'm out with others and want their speech to be clearer. I don't wear them all the time as things like wind and general noises can be quite pronounced (despite filter settings) and make my tinnitus and hyperacusis worse.

 

56 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

It's not debilitating, and it hardly compares with the issues that some of my friends and family are dealing with (cancer, heart attack, etc.), but it's bloody irritating

Again, very true.

 

 

[Happy Jack]

31 minutes ago, chris667 said:

And a hearing test - many forms of tinnitus and hearing loss can be mitigated.

 

Hearing loss, yes.

 

Tinnitus? Really?

 

[Dood]

1 hour ago, Marvin said:

Mine's gotten worse in the last 6 months.

It's always there, and always been there but it's definitely more noticeable.

Unfortunately, there's little to be done about it. I was told you can get hearing aids that cancel out the noise you hear, but as you'd expect they're expensive 

 

I have aids to help with my Tinnitus as does my buddy Paul Gray (The Damned). Tinnitus noise can't be cancelled out I am afraid, however different techniques are used to help mask it, or help to teach the brain to 'turn the gain down a bit'. More on that another time. We've also tried various ways to protect our ears from more damage too, alas Paul has come back from tour with more sadly. I'm off the road from big gigs nursing other health challenges, but it pays to give my ears a rest too. 

[Happy Jack]

32 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

I always wanted to tune it, so that it was a specific pitch and useful for tuning. Never happened though 😆

 

Mine is about 20 cents below Ab, which is about as useless as it gets.

 

[Dood]

32 minutes ago, chris667 said:

My best mate (a professional pianist of 40 years standing) has recently developed it.

 

The MU sent him to a proper music audiologist in Manchester. They gave him earplugs. So if you're a member, it's worth calling.

 

First step should be a trip to the GP. And a hearing test - many forms of tinnitus and hearing loss can be mitigated. The absolute worst thing you can do is hope it goes away.

 

Yes, I think the Hearing Health For Musicians (I think its called) initiative is still running, I'm not sure - but professional musicians (especially in the MU) have access to hearing tests, health advice and moulded ear plugs. I have a nice set of red ones! 

[Dood]

2 hours ago, police squad said:

Who is suffering with this dreadful thing

Mine seems to be the worst it's ever been and I'm worried about gigging with IEMs.

I make sure that they're not loud but I fear it's still getting worse.

It's affecting my hearing too

 

One of my bug-bears with hi-fi earphones masquerading as IEMs is that they can actually do more damage, especially if IEMs, even proper ones, aren't used safely. 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I have it. A lot of the time I don't notice it, but it is always there. When I'm particularly stressed it can get pretty bad which makes a kind of feedback loop with my stress levels.

[Dood]

Mine got worse after getting COVID. I wasn't gigging at the time, so I can't find anything else to blame it on. 

[MacDaddy]

Mine started after I was pushed off a wall when I was 12. Getting into heavy metal when I was 14 probably didn't help 😈

[80Hz]

@Jean-Luc Pickguard Yes I have noticed worse tinnitus during periods of high stress, so I can relate to the “feedback loop”.

 

I’m fortunate that mine is low level and not really disruptive, and probably average for my age.

 

I would add that in my experience earwax plays a part. I spend long amounts of time wearing headphones, as well as ear plugs, and that can move earwax around leading to issues.

[police squad]

23 minutes ago, Dood said:

Mine got worse after getting COVID. I wasn't gigging at the time, so I can't find anything else to blame it on. 

yep so did mine. It was always  fine and I didn't notice it, but since I had covid, it's definately worse

[chris_b]

I was chatting to Nathan East and Victor Wooten, as you do. They both have tinnitus and neither wear any hearing protection!

 

I have tinnitus and I've been using ACS plugs for over 20 years. I dread to think what my hearing would have been like without them.

 

The subtitles and sound bar help, but in my house we're at the, "Do we really need the TV to be that loud?" phase!!

[snorkie635]

Ditto. Watching TV without sub-titles can prove difficult, especially if the speaker(s) happen to be female. I can still hear Big Bazza White clearly enough though. 🗣️ 👂🏻🫨

[BabyBlueSound]

I had it for decades. It gets worse during crazy windy weather, or before sudden heat/cold waves - and now we have wind and an incoming heat wave. Not ideal 👂 

[Rosie C]

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

Mine is about 20 cents below Ab, which is about as useless as it gets.

 

 

Interesting, mine is more of a pink noise. But I have hyperacusis too, so maybe not exactly tinnitus.