Tinnitus.

[Pedro Teixeira]

Well.. how do I start this. I'm somewhat of a hypochondriac guy, with every kind of diseases, but my mainly "paranoid" thoughts go to cancer and ear loss/tinnitus.

Now I gotta say, I was never very careful about 1 / 2 years ago, I gigged a lot with my band with absolutely zero protection. But my hearing until yesterday has been really fine, no tinnitus, nothing. Until last night, I was with my iphone and there was this "Dog whistle" app that I downloaded and wanted to test on my dog (which did absolutely nothing I may add lol), so I went up to the 16 or 15hz or something, dont remember very well, and my girlfriend started to shout to turn that thing off. And I was amazed I barely could hear it! I did it a couple more times, and I heard it really low. So went to bed, woke up this morning, and my left ear is ringing... a high pitch ring, I don't know if this is just my head, but that couldn't have happened just because of that could it? I am calling the doctor on monday and schedule a full hearing exam, as I've never done those. But I'm feeling quite paranoid and worried as it also feels weird in my ears, can't really explain though.

Has anyone got tinnitus not directly through, say, a concert, but from one day to another?!

 

[abyssofdreams]

afaik it can appear pretty sudden. and it could stay for months or even years. usually, in most cases, it goes away though.

 

[MetalJonesy]

yer it generally goes away from gigs after a few days depending how loud and how long the gig was for. i have slight amount of tinitus, but my hearing still goes all the way up to 18.5k/19k how long it will be like that i dunno!

 

[Felix Neumann]

Damn..I don´t have much time now, but I wanna write this..

Never let someone persuade that it never goes away!

I got a terrible Tinnitus and the docs said to me, it´s chronically!! After that, I felled into a deep depression and considered to end my life. After 2 years, it went away and I´m a lucky bastard now. The thought, that I never could go away, broke me totally.

 

[MetalJonesy]

im talking about when i was younger mind (well 18 ish) but ill always wear ear plugs when i can (gigs, night clubs, driving loud cars, machinery etc) as now its less likely to return to how it was after long loud exposure!

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

Damn, Felix, those looked like some tough times, I'm glad it went away now.

But the thing is, I haven't been into gigs lately, and since I haven't receive my etymotic plugs yet, I refuse to rehearse as loud and in the same place as my band's members are, so I put some tissues in my ears, I know it does almost nothing, but at least it muffles things a bit, and rehearse as far as I can from the drummer, really far away (my cables are long ).

I seem to have aching ears, it could probably be an infection, they don't hurt very much, just oh so slightly.. when I was a baby I had a bad case of Otitis media, the doctor said I could loose a bit of hearing, but it turned out ok and nothing happened, no hear loss. But I know this could also be in my head, I tend to think A LOT about this subjects, I mean alot!

 

[Erkan]

I had a temporary tinnitus once... lasted for about a week I think, not sure. I was scared shitless dude... now I'm really sensitive to sound and always wear protection, even if it looks stupid

I'm not gonna lose my 2 best mics due to "coolness" or some bullshit like that.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

Yeah, I never thought that way. Wouldn't wear because it looks silly. I don't give a flying crap about that, but I had that stupid teenager feeling that it wouldn't happen

 

[The Unavoidable]

I heard Zakk Wylde has got it pretty bad, since he never gigs with protection apparently. He just sleeps with the tv on, I heard

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

I think the ringing is going away, but I do feel both ears a bit "saturated", like when your in an airplane taking off, when it's rising altitude... I kinda feel that sensation of pressure...

 

[Razorjack]

I've had it for a few years now, eventually your hearing system just tunes it out. It sent me spiraling into depression when I first got it but now it's actually quite comforting, it's always there to remind me how much we take our health for granted and how when we're young we can feel invincible. Like a lot of sufferers there are times when I need to have the tv/music/radio on to get to sleep but usually it's because I'm thinking about something else and my brain is focusing on the ringing to distract me!!

 

[Fox Mulder]

i had mild-symptoms in my right ear few weeks back. was scared shit.
stayed away from any sort of music and/or noise for 2-3weeks, and worn soft ear plugs all throughout the day.
i later on started using a dropper to apply some lavender oil to both my ears. helped a lot. i'm fine now.

 

[ahjteam]

my tinnitus went almost completely away after I stopped gigging and started eating healthy (Almost solely veggiefoods and a lot of carbs, minimum amount of fat) for half a year.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

I have it. I've learned to adapt to it. Not it rarely bothers me (the actual ringing) when it's totally silent, my sinuses are congested, etc. I'm still pretty sensitive in my left ear to high pitched frequencies, but I've learned to adapt to it. I got kind of depressed at first, but realized there was no point in wallowing in my own self pity so I quit it.

-Joe

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

you feel your ears congested? That's exactly what I feel... couldn't this be an infection or something?

 

[Limak]

Well I got tinnitus in my right ear since always(I don't remember times when I didnt have it), the ringing is sometimes super loud and sometimes lower than typical background noise(fridge 2 rooms away etc). Maybe its just me that got used to it but it's nowhere near THAT bad as some of you describe it(I'm far from life-fortreiting thoughts). I've read somewhere that ,,when in club with loud music, when you come back from it with ringing, permanent damage is done already,, and this is bullshit. Even as tinnitus sufferer I hear high frequency stuff better many 16 years olds. Recently I came back from a club where due to my stupidity i've exposed my right ear(that's right the problematic one) straight to the cone, 5 meters away from the huge speaker. Of course after comming back from the club ringing was louder than human voice(and I did shit myself as hell cause it was few days after i read the perma-damage article mentioned earlier). On the next day it went absolutely back to my ,,normal,, ringing, and I checked if I could hear highs same as I could before, and of course I could.
My only advice is, if you are careful enough and live healthy life then dont panic on this shit, it will most certainly go away.
As for me I was either born with it or it's effect of some damage done during my infancy/early childhood.
Also I know what do you mean with that ,,ear pressure,, thingie, I got it too in my tinnitus ear, it doesnt affect my hearing(thats subjective but even though it feels diffrent in each ear, I can hear things exactly same way in both of them)

 

[ahjteam]

oh yeah, almost forgot... My studiotech teacher recommended Ginkgo biloba (some kind of natural extract is available in drugstores) for tinnitus, if its caused by stress or similiar. If its caused by loss of hear, then there is nothing to do to it. But before you slit your wrists, you should atleast try it.

 

[sparkyness]

Have had it for a couple of years now. It got much worse recently due to an increase in wax buildup but I used some Exterol drops to soften the wax and it's reduced it somewhat.

Most of the time I don't notice it until I go to bed at night, but now and then it can get quite severe.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

But this is weird, because I know feel the ringing quieter, but still feel both ears congested... I only hear the ringing in the left ear, never heard it throughout the day on the right one... I'm really hoping this is just an infection or something

 

[MetalJonesy]

i had an issue with one of my ears for around 4 days, was like tinitus and the higher frequencies were softened, totally freaked me out, but after a cpl of days it resolved itself, and it wasnt down to loud noise. i believe it was some sort of ear in fection of the inner ear, luckily it went though. i also went to the doctors just for a check up whilst it was present and there was no apparent sign in the middle ear of anything. if your concerned go see a doctor!