Tinnitus

[Leo_Gnardo]

I heard of some people being driven mad from hearing constant low frequency sounds no one else seemed to hear. Maybe this was hyperacusis.

Like in Taos NM and Windsor Ontario? Mystery "rumbles" going on in some areas. Some people sense it and others not. At my house, during and after a strong rainstorm, the ground shakes so hard my windows rattle. I score that to a nearby waterfall. When it really gets going, boom boom boom. It's about 400 feet away. At least I've been able to correlate the effect with the probable cause. My neighbors, they don't notice anything, they're glued to their TV's. And they think I'm a nut. So what. I think they're not paying attention.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

I think I've been extremely lucky with my tinnitus. Best I can remember, it started at about age 15 (about 40 years ago). I started playing guitar at age 11, so this sort-of jibes as far as the timeline. I learned at an early age to not only accept it, but embrace it (didn't know what it was back then). At night, when I go to bed, I meditate on the sound of the tinnitus - I let my whole being be immersed and enveloped in the sound. I go to sleep very quickly. I have a dear friend who cannot sleep without a desk fan on his nightstand, running at the fastest speed.

[sliberty]

I too have severe Tinitus. As I am 57 now, when I was 14 or 15, we didn't really understand the dangers of loud music, just the joys. I remember the day it started. I sat in front of a friends amp while one of the older kids played Hendrix on my newly purchased used Telecaster. The amp was on 11 of course, and I was sitting 6 feet from it, right in front. As I walked home, I heard the ringing for the first time, and it has never stopped since. it gets louder some days, usually after being exposed to more loud stuff. After a few days it goes back to normal. My hearing is not great, but I manage. I'll eventually have to give in and try hearing aids. But you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and I still play without protection. DON'T DO THIS. I am an ass. Be smarter than me.

I am also one of the lucky ones. it doesn't give me headaches, it doesn't keep me awake at night, it just interferes with my hearing. So I am not as miserable as I might have been otherwise.

Damn, I love it loud.

[gui_tarzan]

I have a dear friend who cannot sleep without a desk fan on his nightstand, running at the fastest speed.

I can't remember a time when I didn't at least have music on at night, just barely loud enough to hear and not loud enough to wake me up. We also have a fan running for the white noise. When the power goes out it's very difficult to sleep.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

But you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and I still play without protection. DON'T DO THIS. I am an ass. Be smarter than me.

Yup. me too. I even have the -15dB Musician's earplugs, but they disconnect me from my guitar tone too much - makes me feel like I have no control over not only my tone, but my volume as well. Fortunately, I don't play in super-loud situations any more.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

I think one of the other reasons I get along so well with my tinnitus, is that it reminds me of "Brazilian Rhyme" by Earth, Wind and Fire. Though my tinnitus pitches are much higher than the non-musical pitches that go through this tune from beginning to end.

[vibratoking]

...I learned at an early age to not only accept it, but embrace it (didn't know what it was back then). At night, when I go to bed, I meditate on the sound of the tinnitus - I let my whole being be immersed and enveloped in the sound. I go to sleep very quickly....

Embracing is it a very wise thing. I have tinnitus. I also have a book about it. "Tinnitus Retraining Therapy'. Goes into a lot of detail, but the big emphasis is to retrain your hearing. Optimism and positivity seem to help many patients. There is no cure and actually there are quite a few different causes. It is not understood by the medical community. One theory is that the auditory system somehow becomes damaged and fails to produce certain frequencies. In response, the brain 'generates' the missing frequencies to 'fill' the hole. Some patients suffer so badly that it drives them to the edge of insanity. In at least one acute case, the patient's auditory nerve was surgically severed because deafness was preferred over the ringing. Guess what? The ringing got WORSE!!! Take care of your ears. It is a wise thing to do, but not a guarantee against tinnitus.

[Leo_Gnardo]

One theory is that the auditory system somehow becomes damaged and fails to produce certain frequencies. In response, the brain 'generates' the missing frequencies to 'fill' the hole. Some patients suffer so badly that it drives them to the edge of insanity. In at least one acute case, the patient's auditory nerve was surgically severed because deafness was preferred over the ringing. Guess what? The ringing got WORSE!!!

The part of the ear that translates vibration to nerve impulses, cochlea I think, is a snail-shell shaped organ lined with tiny hairs that vibrate in synch with air pressure variations, each one tuned to a different frequency and a nerve at the base. Overstimulation of nerves will cause them to lose sensitivity then finally pack up & quit working at all. But as you pointed out, that's just at the "microphone" end of the system. Interesting to see the idea that the brain will make up its own signal in the absence of one from the ear.

"Give a little whistle, then you'll know what to do" Thanks Jiminy Cricket, when my ears whistle I just don't know what to do. Give 'em a lot of rest, that's about all.

Anyone considering a cochlear implant, be aware that what you "hear" afterward will bear no resemblance to the sound you're used to. Gas Music From Jupiter is more like it - extremely bad synthesizer noises. You have to go to therapy to learn to hear all over again, how to translate those noises into speech. Real music, I can't imagine how awful that would sound. NPR did a report on it a couple years ago, with "sound" samples from the implant. You might be able to find it on archive. Music lovers would be worse off than the guy who had his nerve severed surgically. I hope none of us has to face that possibility. It would drive me stark raving mad, but then who could tell the difference.

[Stevem]

One thing I have noticed with my now built in roll off at 14k is how much more focused my brain is in the mid range, I seem much more able to pick out parts being played from one another when learning new songs!
Its like my brain has a built in compressor now! LOL!

[Leo_Gnardo]

One thing I have noticed with my now built in roll off at 14k is how much more focused my brain is in the mid range, I seem much more able to pick out parts being played from one another when learning new songs!
Its like my brain has a built in compressor now! LOL!

There's not really all that much "information" beyond 14K, far overtones and "air." Half the top octave gone, you still have 95% of your bandwidth. Missing some of the high frequency "hash" you can concentrate on the notes.

I've been reading up on presbycusis since my early 20's. Oh boy, looking forward to this and now I have it. And likely so do many of us. "Loss of hearing acuity with age" and according to Don & Carolyn Davis' "Sound System Engineering" - dialing up the treble to compensate only annoys the listener.

Learning a "new way of listening", getting used to what hearing you have left, and not dialing up the treble, is what we wind up doing. At one point, coming home after a long tour, I fired up my stereo. Heving my eardrums knocked about for months, plus a growing presbycusis, I remember thinking "All I hear is hi-hat. Where's the rest of the band?" So I yanked out the crossovers, padded down the tweeters some, and my ears are happy. Everyone else seems to like the tone of my livingroom speakers, JBL no less, now without the typical JBL "sizzle." Nice fat lows & mids with enough top end to carry the message. Its' not pleasant to listen to speakers that sound like a steam radiator about to explode. Or guitar amps or anything else.

A similar condition with eyes, presbyopia, past 40-45 years focusing muscles weaken and we need reading glasses or bifocals. Hooray for technology.

If you have both, and you're Presbyterian, you earned a hat trick.

[sliberty]

So, my eyes were getting worse and worse to the point where the eye doc said she could no longer correct with glasses. It got so bad that I was unsafe behind the wheel - I couldn't see road sings until it was way too late. I finally had cataract surgery done early this year, and had them implant the very expensive (out of pocket) corrective lens, which I will paying for over the next 2 years or so. Thankfully, now I can see distance quite well, and don't wear glasses except for close things (reading, working at the computer, soldering, etc).

So, I may be getting deaf, and some have called me dumb, but I am no longer going blind too. Probably why I've never been good at pinball.

[davent]

Removal of a Vestibular Schwannoma 3 years ago left me with no chance of ever hearing with my right ear again but for whatever reason there is a ringing that seems to originate in that general area of my head, not so bad, usually don't notice it, but...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_schwannoma

Eyesight- 7th cranial nerve was also severed so facial paralysis and eye won't blink, to protect it have to keep eye lube in it at all times (you blink every 5-6 secs) which leaves you looking through a vaseline-like film.

For the facial paralysis they took a nerve from the tongue (#12) grafted it into my right side of the face and it regenerated through much of the cheek over a 2 year period so things appear relatively normal. Speaking and eating still present challenges but i still hear well with the left ear!

Now it's take no chances with the hearing that's left, proceed with caution!
dave

[beasleybodyshop]

I first started having tinnitus when i was 15 - i used to plug in headphones to my old Sharp ghetto blaster and listen to heavy metal all night long. Really regret doing that now. It gets really bad when my blood pressure goes up (IE - exercise and running) Now the only way i can go run or work out is with headphones on.

At night, i turn on my bedroom stereo really low and leave it on NPR. usually the BBC is playing at that time of night, and its really soothing.

Has anyone actually had success with the auditory nerve retraining therapy? Ive been looking into it lately.

[darefugee]

Do any of you suffer from tinnitus after playing music for so many years? My hearing is still very good at 51 but I have this constant high-pitched ringing in my ears that I usually only notice when it's relatively quiet in my surroundings.

What?

What?

Seriously, I have it too and have had it for over 20 years. Constantly, every waking moment. Rock concerts and working on jets in the USAF for 22 years did it for me. Fortunately it doesn't bother me.

What?

[pdf64]

Unfortunately in my younger days, I was reckless with exposure to loud music, 100W Marshalls cranked in small rooms, metal working power tools etc, and now have some hearing loss, tinnitus and, having read the previously linked page, what seems like a mild degree of Hyperacusis.
The small speakers in modern TVs etc seem to have a response peak at the frequency range I'm sensitive to, and what seems a reasonable volume level to others in the house can be intolerable to me.
The after effects and further damage from playing in a rock band scenario were starting to have a have an significant impact, and I worried about carrying on with it.
So about 10 years ago I looked into what the risk was and the options to mitigate, and ended up by trying to limit the overall band SPL by using smaller amps and having some good quality, flat response custom ear plugs http://www.etymotic.com/hp/erme.html
I tried the 15dB first, but they were too much, I felt too 'distanced' from the music. However, switching to the 9dB inserts fixed that and has made it possible for me to continue with the band.
Pete