tinnitus

[Wakka]

Anyone have it in this forum?

Im a DJ, and I go to a ton of shows... my ears get pretty bad after a whole night of blasting music, and i've tried using those disposable ones from CVS or whatever, but they still hurt a little after a night at like pacha or something.

I will say however, the music sounds 100% better wearing them in, you can feel it a whole lot better.

Anyone have any ear plugs they recommend? Im not trying to spend like $600 for a custom molded pair, but i would like a nice pair that will be highly effective.

for those of you who are going to ask "Whats tinnitus":

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

[immiketoo]

I have it. It's ringing in my ears right now. I HATE it. Too many years of motorcycles and shooting have taken their toll. I now use custom formed ear plugs that I got at the annual motorcycle show. Much better but the damage is already done. FML

[The Ghost of Tom Joad]

Are you sure you're using the disposable foam ear plugs correctly? I find them very effective. I used to be into shooting and the cvs foam plugs worked great. Many people just wedge the foam plugs in the ear area, which isn't the way they were supposed to be used. You're supposed to roll them together like a joint then insert them into the ear canal, where they expand and make a good seal. Other than that, I dunno!

[yakev724]

I had it earlier this year for a few months, guess it wasn't permanent. (maybe slightly different than what you're experiencing though, sometimes ringing, sometimes a crunching sound each time my ear canal/jaw moved)

Went away after I stopped cleaning them for a few weeks (always kept them clean w/ q-tips before). Now I clean maybe once a week.

[Wakka]

Originally Posted by The Ghost of Tom Joad

Are you sure you're using the disposable foam ear plugs correctly? I find them very effective. I used to be into shooting and the cvs foam plugs worked great. Many people just wedge the foam plugs in the ear area, which isn't the way they were supposed to be used. You're supposed to roll them together like a joint then insert them into the ear canal, where they expand and make a good seal. Other than that, I dunno!

I misspoke, you're right they do work OK, but they also get a little uncomfortable after a bit, and can fall out fairly easily after a night of dancing, and rubbing up against a large crowd of people. im talking like 12+ hours of loud ass music too.

[M_Six]

I have it quite bad. My ears are always screaming at me and any ambient sound makes it worse. Mine comes along with the 30% hearing loss I have from many years in the military shooting and flying around in helicopters, plus way too much loud music. Now if I crank the music it actually causes pain and no matter how loud it gets, the tinnitus is always louder.

If you can sit in a quiet room and not always hear the loud, high pitched whine, then you don't have it too bad yet. There is still time to prevent it from getting worse.

Try the yellow E-A-R brand foam earplugs. You can get a box of 200 pairs off Amazon for less than $30.

[1speedbike]

I was in a band, (well, several, but one serious one) and I DJed for college radio but did a couple live gigs. Tinnitus 4 lyf.

One metal band I was in we would just borrow all the amps we could from friends and even other bands we played with, split each instruments signal twice so we could get up to 4 amps each and play ridiculous heavy riffs while our singer screamed (this wasn't my "serious" band). Can't really hear whispers into my right ear any more (I can hear it, but not distinctly to make out works if it's really soft) and I can hear it over the TV and moderately loud music if I de-focus my attention from the music or TV. I'm glad I wasn't really in any other metal bands after this.

No ear plugs = big mistake, but it's hard to tell if your instrument's in tune if you got em in.

I'm sorry for everyone else that has this condition. It really, really, really, really blows.

[Wakka]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I have it quite bad. My ears are always screaming at me and any ambient sound makes it worse. Mine comes along with the 30% hearing loss I have from many years in the military shooting and flying around in helicopters, plus way too much loud music. Now if I crank the music it actually causes pain and no matter how loud it gets, the tinnitus is always louder.

If you can sit in a quiet room and not always hear the loud, high pitched whine, then you don't have it too bad yet. There is still time to prevent it from getting worse.

Try the yellow E-A-R brand foam earplugs. You can get a box of 200 pairs off Amazon for less than $30.

Wow you've officially scared the balls out of me. Thank you. No I don't have it that bad and I hope I never do.

[Blayne]

Originally Posted by Wakka

Wow you've officially scared the balls out of me. Thank you. No I don't have it that bad and I hope I never do.

Yea bro I have it in my left ear, got it from shooting a long barrelled shotgun, and am quite pissed about it. Out of all the other guns and shit I really don't know how this gave me it. Anyway, its the most annoying thing in life, when i first got it it took me almost 6 months to get used to the high pitched ringing in my ear, and there were times that I actually wanted to just like pop my eardrum somehow and be done with it. Made me go a lil crazy at moments lol. This being said I now live with it and don't have it as bad as some people as i now won't notice it unless I'm in a room where it is pretty quite. You don't want this trust me, and every person that has it.....its fucking ANNOYING. Pay the 8 bills and get yourself some noise cancelling custom moulded in ear, ear plugs. Its worth it if your ears are already stressed, remember that what you have now is permanent and it can only get worse. GET THE EARPLUGS!!

[M_Six]

Tinnitus is usually not something you can stop, even with surgery. It's not your ears making the noise. You could have your auditory nerve cut and you would still hear the ringing. Even worse, maybe. Tinnitus is your brain making up for the missing noise signal when you suffer hearing loss. Like an amputee will feel pain in a foot that is no longer there, your brain makes you think you hear high pitched sound when your high-pitch nerves are already dead. I hear very high pitched ringing in my ears all the time, yet I cannot hear high pitched sounds around me.

[Blayne]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Tinnitus is usually not something you can stop, even with surgery. It's not your ears making the noise. You could have your auditory nerve cut and you would still hear the ringing. Even worse, maybe. Tinnitus is your brain making up for the missing noise signal when you suffer hearing loss. Like an amputee will feel pain in a foot that is no longer there, your brain makes you think you hear high pitched sound when your high-pitch nerves are already dead. I hear very high pitched ringing in my ears all the time, yet I cannot hear high pitched sounds around me.

Didn't even know you could do surgery for it. I always thought the cause of it was the hairs in the canal being damaged and they fold over touching the nerve, thus giving it a false impression of sound. Also, never new about the brain thing ethier. Yea I can't hear high pitched noise ether, found this out when I put one of those mouse/rat things in the garage that keep them out and could only hear it in my right ear. I actually got a bunch of test done at the audio clinic and my hear loss was quite small. There was only one frequency in which the graph dropped lower than average.

[M_Six]

You really can't have surgery to stop it. That's what I'm saying.

Tinnitus is almost always the pitch that the damaged nerves would create if they weren't damaged. If your hearing loss gets worse, so will your tinnitus. That's what scares me the most. Mine is bad enough. I'd hate to have it get worse.

[El_Duderino]

Hello all. I'm an otolaryngology: head and neck surgeon. I have some insight into tinnitus as these patients pass through our clinics and operating rooms.

To the OP, I would suggest investing in some custom-molded earphones. Although there is no strict evidence that these reduce long-term hearing damage, there is evidence to suggest that users tend to listen at "lower" volumes secondary to the noise isolation. I'm not sure how conducive these would be to DJ'ing compared to standard circumaural headphones.

Other steps that can be taken include white-noise generators and, in extreme cases, cochlear nerve section which can be an effective surgery. It is incorrect to say that there is no surgery for tinnitus although there is no surgery that can provide 100% success rates. Cutting the cochlear nerve or destruction of the labyrinth (which contains the hearing and balance organs) can be effective. Either surgery makes you completely deaf in that ear and would only be used as a last resort.

The pathophysiology and cause of tinnitus is more complex then pointed out in the posts above and is not completely understood. In some cases, it does appear to be generated by the hair cells whereas, in others, it may be centrally generated (ie in the brainstem or brain).

I hope this helps and feel free to hit me up for advice.

[Blayne]

Originally Posted by El_Duderino

Hello all. I'm an otolaryngology: head and neck surgeon. I have some insight into tinnitus as these patients pass through our clinics and operating rooms.

To the OP, I would suggest investing in some custom-molded earphones. Although there is no strict evidence that these reduce long-term hearing damage, there is evidence to suggest that users tend to listen at "lower" volumes secondary to the noise isolation. I'm not sure how conducive these would be to DJ'ing compared to standard circumaural headphones.

Other steps that can be taken include white-noise generators and, in extreme cases, cochlear nerve section which can be an effective surgery. It is incorrect to say that there is no surgery for tinnitus although there is no surgery that can provide 100% success rates. Cutting the cochlear nerve or destruction of the labyrinth (which contains the hearing and balance organs) can be effective. Either surgery makes you completely deaf in that ear and would only be used as a last resort.

The pathophysiology and cause of tinnitus is more complex then pointed out in the posts above and is not completely understood. In some cases, it does appear to be generated by the hair cells whereas, in others, it may be centrally generated (ie in the brainstem or brain).

I hope this helps and feel free to hit me up for advice.

Actually I got a question, my doctor said that over a long period of time that it is possible for it to slowly go away. Is this true? Also, I believe I got it from a gun shot, as my ear was kind of deaf for the whole day after the gun shot. Though the next day it was perfectly fine, and for about a week or so after it was perfectly fine. Then I was just sitting at my desk, and it started ringing. No one can figure that out, as should it not be instant after the trauma occurred.

Thanks a lot

(Just did some thinking on this, and would it be correct to say that since there was a delay in my case, it would be more than likely that my condition is being caused from the brain?)

[lopealle]

I have from alwas being being at the range while in the military

[immiketoo]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Tinnitus is usually not something you can stop, even with surgery. It's not your ears making the noise. You could have your auditory nerve cut and you would still hear the ringing. Even worse, maybe. Tinnitus is your brain making up for the missing noise signal when you suffer hearing loss. Like an amputee will feel pain in a foot that is no longer there, your brain makes you think you hear high pitched sound when your high-pitch nerves are already dead. I hear very high pitched ringing in my ears all the time, yet I cannot hear high pitched sounds around me.

It's pretty embarrassing to always have to ask people to speak up. I hate it, and it's very annoying to sit here right now and hear it. It hasn't always been this bad but lately, its almost constant. I want a do over.

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by immiketoo

It's pretty embarrassing to always have to ask people to speak up.

Me too. I'm in my 20's. People look at me funny

[Blayne]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

Me too. I'm in my 20's. People look at me funny

fuckin sucks

[Express]

i have it. driving an unmuffled truck does it.

i don't wear protection, except when sleeping to drown the noise.

[Express]

all i hear when i sit in a quiet room is high pitched whines.

[Soorena]

I had it, i also lost %20 of my right ear hearing. Doctors said Corticosteroids would make it go, and it did.

[CarForHire]

Get Surefire ear pro! They're inexpensive, and very comfortable.

http://www.surefire.com/EarProProducts