Who Knew Guitars Were So Loud.

[mongers]

I've had ringing ears since I went to a friend's semi-loud show maybe 6 weeks ago.  Which is troubling, since I used to blow my ears out and recoup in a couple of days max.

blowing out your ears doesn't undo the damage taken.
The damage is there, even if you don't notice it. Until the point where you do.

I have tinnitus, got it about a year and a half ago. I always had a very low amount, barely noticeable. I had to concentrate to hear it, if it was there at all. About a year and a half ago I was testing my home alarm and took one too many blasts of it, and it triggered tinnitus which became loudish. I'm sure the damage is cumulative, and that was just the last straw. But I've always been careful about loud noise, avoided loud noise. Just luck of the draw.

Millions of people have tinnitus. Lots of returning soldiers are being diagnosed with it, so the government is putting a lot of money into researching it.

About a year ago I started using a device from Neuromonics. It play sounds in a way to help accustom the brain to the lack of sounds, geared to the tinnitus, to decrease the perception of it. It's not a sure cure, but it's helped a lot of people to some extent, lesser or more. I'm not getting a huge relief but recently for the last couple of months I do feel it may be better more often.

I also got hearing aids a few months ago. I can hear conversational sounds fine but I lack certain frequencies. I've gotten used to the hearing aids, and really like them. I don't have to strain so much to hear. These are ones that go behing the ear with a thin transparent to the receptacle inside the ear canal. Very hard to see. I could use those because my hearing issues weren't so bad that I needed them for normal sounds. Otherwise I would have needed the ones that sit in the ear itself.

Now though, I hear sounds in music that I wasn't really picking up before! At first I thought the hearing aids might be messed up, but lol, they were allowing me to hear things I couldn't hear so well before.

Excellent story, KRonn.

The details about the tinnitus treatment, would probably be useful for Tim, Capt. and others.

In the way you describe it, it 'sounds' like you've got something a bit similar too mine, just in a milder form. 

Do you know when you 'got' it ?

And I know what you mean about hearing stuff in music that you've not heard before. 

[KRonn]

Mongers,
I got tinnitus in a loud and more persistent form about a year and a half ago. Testing my house alarm triggered it, as I said, and was probably the last straw as I believe the damage is cumulative. I've had  a very low form of it since I was a kid. Used to hear it a bit if tired, or occassionally a cricket like buzzing or a ringing sound would happen for a few seconds, which happens to lots of people without tinnitus anyway. I never thought much of it, but never realized how loud and annoying it could get.

I used to hunt a lot, but even wore some ear protection at times, the small plugs that go in the ears. All my target shooting I did with good protection. I really don't know if I did anything so much to cause it. It can happen, or happen with hearing loss, or what ever.

You can find info on Neuromonics device from ATA.org, American Tinnitus Association. Check on there or on the Neuromonics site. I got the address of an audiologist near me who sells the device.  I got my hearing aids from the same audiologist. I'm happy to answer questions on it, if it can help.

[mongers]

Mongers,
I got tinnitus in a loud and more persistent form about a year and a half ago. Testing my house alarm triggered it, as I said, and was probably the last straw as I believe the damage is cumulative. I've had  a very low form of it since I was a kid. Used to hear it a bit if tired, or occassionally a cricket like buzzing or a ringing sound would happen for a few seconds, which happens to lots of people without tinnitus anyway. I never thought much of it, but never realized how loud and annoying it could get.

I used to hunt a lot, but even wore some ear protection at times, the small plugs that go in the ears. All my target shooting I did with good protection. I really don't know if I did anything so much to cause it. It can happen, or happen with hearing loss, or what ever.

You can find info on Neuromonics device from ATA.org, American Tinnitus Association. Check on there or on the Neuromonics site. I got the address of an audiologist near me who sells the device.  I got my hearing aids from the same audiologist. I'm happy to answer questions on it, if it can help.

Yes, I was aware I had it for a good few years, a bit like yours, then it increase a bit in more recent years, generally white/pink noise with the occasion bouts of whistles and feedback, then about 18 months it went up a discernible notch and I was getting quite of lot of extras noises.

But I'm still relatively happy to accept it, I always have the radio on and when I get the start of sudden noises, I find if I stick my finger in the appropriate eye that seems to kill of much of the feedback/whistling.
I think that's just a mind-trick on my part, I assuming I'm doing something to stop it and another coping strategy is to be determined not to let 'it' annoy me or get me down. 

I guess I'm pragmatic about it as it runs in the family, and it's not really that big a 'hereditary' problem have, especially as I seemed to have missed out on lots of other family conditions, for instance no migraines (never had a headache in my life) and on the plus side I've definitely got my old mans side of the family's general constitution of an ox. 

And now these hearing aids, have largely 'solved' my hearing loss, I'm rather chuffed with the way things are going. 

[KRonn]

Also, hearing aids can sometimes, probably not real often, decrease tinnitus, because they fill in gaps in hearing that the brain is responding to with tinnitus. I don't think I'm explaing it correctly but it's something like that. I think my hearing aids help a bit sometimes.

I'm at a point of accepting the tinnitus, usually. But sometimes it gets trying. I can sleep fine with it, as it seems to shut down for the most part and doesn't affect my sleep. I guess for some people they use sound devices to play restful music, to mask the tinnitus. However, one oddity of mine is if I doze off and wake with a start it may trigger tinnitus. But even that odd affect seems to have lessened a bit. Maybe the device helped, not sure.

[KRonn]

I also have several relatives and friends who have it. I didn't know they did until I started talking about my tinnitus. Some of them just started getting it a few years ago, just out of nowhere. His hearing is ok though, just slight hearing loss. His wife with large hearing loss doesn't have tinnitus.

[mongers]

I also have several relatives and friends who have it. I didn't know they did until I started talking about my tinnitus. Some of them just started getting it a few years ago, just out of nowhere. His hearing is ok though, just slight hearing loss. His wife with large hearing loss doesn't have tinnitus.

Interesting, though I think some people do make a meal out of some illnesses; I friend of mine said she had it too, and in conversation with her husband I mentioned it and he denied she had it; turns out she was sort of co-depending/commiserating with my by saying she had it. 

I'd guess one or two of you friend might be doing that, after all if you listen hard enough one can sometimes convince oneself something is going on or you're hearing something odd ? 
And most probably aren't suffering in the same degree that as you are.

[KRonn]

Two step relatives do have it. The one I mentioned above has it and it can get loud, not sure if as bad as mine. He said his recently got worse. And his brother has it just a bit but noticeable if he listens for it, like you mention. Another friend of mine got his in the service. He got zapped by electronic equipment and his can get pretty bad too. He has more severe hearling loss, uses hearing aids. 

You can get tinnitus through illness or injury, head inuries, ear/hearing injuries or illness.

[mongers]

Two step relatives do have it. The one I mentioned above has it and it can get loud, not sure if as bad as mine. He said his recently got worse. And his brother has it just a bit but noticeable if he listens for it, like you mention. Another friend of mine got his in the service. He got zapped by electronic equipment and his can get pretty bad too. He has more severe hearling loss, uses hearing aids. 

You can get tinnitus through illness or injury, head inuries, ear/hearing injuries or illness.

Yeah, I think it's particularly on the rise in the Army/Marines as not only is it a naturally nosier work environment, but the concussions, the injuries and the plan loudness of these IED, must be causing all sorts of temporary, permanent hearing loss and tinnitus.
Didn't Seigy mention on several occasion being concussed/deafened by nearby explosion ?

[mongers]

Another good thing today, I was cycling through the conurbation's rush hour traffic, busy road with lots of engine noises, when I heard a plaintive noise, I looked up and it was a herring gull flying 50-100ft overhead; great that I heard it over the congestion and very surprised that I instinctively knew where the sound was coming from.  Previously I've had rather poor directional discrimination.

As it is, I've decided I don't need to wear them in traffic or whilst cycling as it just too much more unnecessary information; I don't need to hear individual unique engine sounds and so forth, just a general hearing that there is an engine nearby or one is approaching is enough.
And besides spatial awareness seems far more important when robustly transitioning across urban environments.

[KRonn]

That's pretty cool Mongers, how much of a difference the hearing aids work for you. Mine are maybe more subtle, since my hearing loss is in only certain ranges, not so much conversational. But even there hearing certain spoken sounds like consonants were more difficult. I didn't really realize it until I went through tests. Now I notice with and without the hearing aids. For instance, when I first used them I was hearing a clock in my kitchen ticking. It seemed loud to me and I was listening, wondering what it was! Now I don't notice the ticking, used to it.

[mongers]

That's pretty cool Mongers, how much of a difference the hearing aids work for you. Mine are maybe more subtle, since my hearing loss is in only certain ranges, not so much conversational. But even there hearing certain spoken sounds like consonants were more difficult. I didn't really realize it until I went through tests. Now I notice with and without the hearing aids. For instance, when I first used them I was hearing a clock in my kitchen ticking. It seemed loud to me and I was listening, wondering what it was! Now I don't notice the ticking, used to it.

KRonn, a huge, huge difference. Many conversations I used to have I'd get rather a limited idea of what was going on. 
My understanding of the relatively rare hearing loss I and others have, means pretty often we've not been diagnosed with it until much later in life and never consciously knew we had a serious hearing problem. So what one would do is over time develop all sorts of coping mechanisms to deal with it,whether it be avoiding certain situations, often making blanket vague replies in conversation, guessing words ( of which my audiologist said I was very good at) or apparently some people all but teach themselves to lip-read, but they don't know they're doing this !

She also went on to say, all of this took a lot of effort to maintain, which sort of mitigates against an, easy carefree conversation, in short hearing is hard work.

I said I had to get out of this bad habit I've developed, and of which I've only actively been aware of the last year or so, basically for conversation I have, I've probably 'planned' what to say and/or what sort of subjects are expected to be discussed and then after its over I find myself 'debriefing' myself to work out what the gist of the conversation was.
That relates to more emotion driven conservations rather than just strictly factual content ones. So here's me thinking I'm somewhat odd for mentioning this oddity, and she says no actually it's quite common with your type of hearing loss and she goes on to say, something I'd only recently worked out about myself, it mitigates "against being able to live in the moment".

And she's absolutely right, it's rather weird and hard to explain, but probably for all of my adult life, I've never actually dwelt in the present, so to speak.
Often it's far easy to be on your own, work by yourself, for yourself and sort of live not in the present. And I think as a consequence of this I've lived far more 'out of myself' concerned with the future, the past, hence the interest in history, politics and the world about one and above all in ideas. 
I instinctively have more of a passion and attachment to ideas than I do to many relationships ! :gasp:

And this is the truly odd realisation for me, that probably this relatively minor issue, after all I ain't lost a leg, or suffered a debilitating illness, has colour and influenced a hell of a lot of my life and probably paid a surprising part in making up the nature of my personality. 
And now in my mid-40s I have to consider, lots of new, different ways of doing things, new opportunities, but at the same time possibly losing the old, at times somewhat constrained life I've evolved for myself.
So in some ways that's the downside I was talking about, because I'm not sure I want to abandon, my old separateness. 

I think some aspects have been very beneficial to me, as if you can't fully function or live in the present, then 'in the now sensations' like drugs, drink, gambling, destructive relationships and so forth, have very much less hold on me than I guess they do with most people, because those sensations can't sensibly be reconciled with being a part of my 'world of ideas', where I flit around between the past and the future, missing out the present. 

And another downside, is the interest and tendancy to talk about oneself, generally I've always found myself to be a rather uninteresting character, I'm far more interesting in people as social creatures and the roles we play on that wider stage. So for me to even posting this thread, and especially this post is rather embarrassing and goes against the 'old grain'.
I really hope I don't become self-absorbed over this or as a consequence of this. I'd hope I can manage to retain my genuine interest in other people, as I also think it fits in with ones Englishness.   

Now you could say this is all rather a load of bullshit and introspective nonsense, but I think I'd counter by saying there are surprisingly different mental landscapes out there, often you can only touch on them tangentially, but I think say spending some time with someone with schizophrenia does give one an rough idea that arbitrary distinct perceptions of the world, are far more common than just the nuts and bolts of life, career, house, marriage etc would lead you to believe.


I agree with you about the new unfamiliar loud noises, I'm hearing all sorts of new stuff, not heard before and he sounds very loud, I after a few hours listening I'm beginning to 'learn' to place the new sound at their correct sound levels relative to other things.   

[KRonn]

Very interesing stuff Mongers. Especially about the coping, and how you avoided living in the present, due to your difficulties with dealing with everyday situations. Good stuff. Now having hearing aids, with it adding so much to your perception of things, opens new doors for you. And you have to decide to change, after so many years of coping.

My audiologist said that I probably could tell what a word was by the sentence context even if I didn't hear the all that was said, and would add in the right word. But I really don't think my hearing was or is that bad; I could hear conversations and such ok. And  I never had the TV or radio on louder or anything, and always liked things quieter, which I  find kind of odd given that I had some hearing loss. But as I said, it wasn't debilitating like you had there.

[KRonn]

There's one thing I found with me on coping with the tinnitus at first. If I was annoyed or anxious about something, sometimes I'd think of the tinnitus and blame that for my poor mood. But I realized that it wasn't the tinnitus, but that I was transferring other annoyances to the tinnitus issue since that was on my mind. And at first I wondered how I was going to be able to cope with this racket in my head for the next few hours, let alone the next few years or rest of my life. Thankfully I'm well past those feelings now. for the most part anyway. And as you said, there are much worse afflictions.

[mongers]

There's one thing I found with me on coping with the tinnitus at first. If I was annoyed or anxious about something, sometimes I'd think of the tinnitus and blame that for my poor mood. But I realized that it wasn't the tinnitus, but that I was transferring other annoyances to the tinnitus issue since that was on my mind. And at first I wondered how I was going to be able to cope with this racket in my head for the next few hours, let alone the next few years or rest of my life. Thankfully I'm well past those feelings now. for the most part anyway. And as you said, there are much worse afflictions.

KRonn, I would necessarily under play it, the way you describe it I could see it being very annoying.
And I read a story a few weeks back about a guy who suddenly got a lot of intrusive tinnitus, iirc from an accident or sudden illness and because it was over a weekend, he found it so genuinely debilitating and worrisome the he killed himself over it, though perhaps we was in a more vulnerable state for other reasons as well. 

Man, aren't we all getting old together, he's us discussing hearing aids and tinnitus. I'll wager it won't be too many more years before Malthus and Money are discussing the relative benefits of $3,000 zimmer frames.   

Night all.

[KRonn]

Lol Mongers, how true! Getting just a bit older! 

Night.