Hearing Loss/Tinnitus

I have recently become acquainted to asymmetric hearing loss and on and off tinnitus. Obviously I'm doing everything medically possible but generally there isn't much they can do.

I was wondering if anyone else here has tinnitus or hearing loss?

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I have it pretty bad in my left ear. It gets quite annoying at night when it's quiet.

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(05-10-2015 12:23 PM)MiscBrah Wrote:  I have recently become acquainted to asymmetric hearing loss and on and off tinnitus. Obviously I'm doing everything medically possible but generally there isn't much they can do.

I was wondering if anyone else here has tinnitus or hearing loss?

Is there something obvious in your environment that might be causing it?

Long car or motorcycle trips, EDM parties, playing in bands.

clubs for years now have outrageously loud systems, 30 years ago when I was in bands, 100 and the 400 watt RMS amps were considered loud, now that's nothing.

And DJ or whatever other idiots are in control of course can't be wimpy and not turn it up to threshold of pain...

One thing I did that worked well when playing in bands was to use one earplug and move it back and forth between left and right ears.
Your ears have a "recovery cycle", they can take louder levels if they get chances to recover, so if you like it loud that can help a lot.

Also playing sea noise at a low level ( clips available free online_) can be used to help sleep if you have ringing ears, I used to do this after playing gigs.

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(05-10-2015 12:23 PM)MiscBrah Wrote:  I have recently become acquainted to asymmetric hearing loss and on and off tinnitus. Obviously I'm doing everything medically possible but generally there isn't much they can do.

I was wondering if anyone else here has tinnitus or hearing loss?

I do not, but cochlear implants are quite good nowadays and have been getting better since all the Iraq/Afghanistan vets have significantly increased the focus on hearing loss. What did your doctor recommend?

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Nothing you can really do to prevent it unless you want to walk around with ear plugs in all day.

If you live in a city you're going to suffer hearing loss. Trucks, subways, heck even cars if the brakes are squealing.

Worse, if you like going out at night bars and clubs are the worst. To make a shitty sound system "better" they normally go over board on the bass. All of those low end vibrations travel in the cochlea will damage all of the higher frequency sensing Celia along the way.

Solutions? Move out to the country or wear ear plugs. You can lessen the effects by covering your hears with your hands when a subway, truck or loud noise is nearby.

When I was younger, I self tested my hearing. I could hear upwards to 22khz (20khz natural human limit).
Now after years of clubs, orchestral performances, and violin playing my hearing is around 15-16khz.

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I'm assuming the tinnitus is idiopathic (not caused by a known or obvious cause).

If so, do this:

1. Order this supplement and take 2 before bed and 2 when you wake up:

http://www.iherb.com/Thorne-Research-Mag...Caps/18459

2. Completely avoid all stimulants -- any caffeine related products, energy drinks, etc. They heighten tinnitus a great deal.

Do those two things and you will likely experience a significant reduction of the symptoms over time.

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All it took for me was one really loud concert about 7 years ago that give me permanent ringing in my ears. Fortunately it has subsided quite a bit since and it took only 2 real changes in habit to prevent it.

1) Any time I hit up a club or concert I wear these earplugs. They are nearly invisible, they're comfortable and they do a good job at not muffling the sound so you retain a pleasant listening experience. http://www.earasers.net/collections/musi...s/earasers

2) Avoid listening to music on headphones as much as you can; Switch to speakers every chance you can get. In situations like commuting on subways/trains I use noise cancelling earbuds which will isolate the loud environmental noises around you and I make sure the volume on my music isn't too loud.
http://www.klipsch.com/image-s4-black-in-ear-headphones (these are what I use)

That helped me quite a bit over the years. Even if you're somebody like me who doesn't attend concerts or other loud venues very often, it only takes one to compromise your hearing.

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(05-10-2015 12:28 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  Is there something obvious in your environment that might be causing it?

Long car or motorcycle trips, EDM parties, playing in bands.

clubs for years now have outrageously loud systems, 30 years ago when I was in bands, 100 and the 400 watt RMS amps were considered loud, now that's nothing.

And DJ or whatever other idiots are in control of course can't be wimpy and not turn it up to threshold of pain...

One thing I did that worked well when playing in bands was to use one earplug and move it back and forth between left and right ears.
Your ears have a "recovery cycle", they can take louder levels if they get chances to recover, so if you like it loud that can help a lot.

Also playing sea noise at a low level ( clips available free online_) can be used to help sleep if you have ringing ears, I used to do this after playing gigs.

Thanks for all the advice and replies so far. I probably got some form of it from my buddies subwoofers which have an incredibly loud and vibrating bass. Though I usually don't listen to it for more than like 5-10 minutes max every couple weeks. However, thats probably what did it.

You never realize how important the senses are until they are reduced or start going away. I'm lucky my tinnitus isn't constant and will hopefully go away. I emphasize with the people that have to deal with constant tinnitus for the rest of their lives.

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I wanted to add --not hating on EDM,-- but people can become DJs quite quickly, and thus don't have the years of experience musicians have learn to recognize to minor hearing loss and resulting tinnitus , years during which they learn to protect their hearing.

Beware people in control of sound systems.

Don't even THINK of going to a rock concert without ear plugs. The musicians probably all have in-ear monitors that are far lower in volume than the audience is getting. It's like a macho volume war.

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I have a pretty bad tinnitus on both ears. It's almost unbearable when I focus on it.

Funny enough my actual hearing is perfect. Went to the doc and did some tests and he said everything is fine.

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(05-10-2015 12:28 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  clubs for years now have outrageously loud systems, 30 years ago when I was in bands, 100 and the 400 watt RMS amps were considered loud, now that's nothing.

IKE - anything you can do to reverse the damage? I played in bands for about 10 years and went to hundreds of shows. Have no problems now, but can barely stand shows anymore. Wondering when the shoe will drop.

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I have it. After about my initial 6 mo I don't notice it anymore.

I can hear it, but I don't pay attention. After a while you just get extremely used to it.

Basically it becomes the new silence after about a year or so.

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I had what people call "tinnitus" three times.

1. Fell down from the third floor straight into the concrete.
Got knocked out and a blackouted. My hearing sounded like a broken loudspeaker. I thought I was fucked for good. I couldn't handle any bass noises at all. But after 7-8 weeks my hearing got back to normal and the noises started to disappear.

2. A friend of mine pulled a shotgun and started firing when I was sitting next to him
in a boat. After his cavalcade of shot the only thing I could hear was "BEEEEEP". Again, I thought that now my hearing is definitely fucked for good. But eventually after 5-6 weeks the beeping disappeared.

3. After a Motorhead concert at a club in Helsinki. My ears were ringing and ringing.
Couldn't hear almost anything at all. Now I thought.. Well, I deserved it. I have punished my ears so many times so I could see this hearing loss coming. But as always, after a month of heavy ringing the noises faded away.

Every single time I thought that " Well, now my hearing is fucked for good" but they recovered always. I recently had my hearing checked and it was nothing wrong with it.

Isn't it amazing how the body can heal itself.

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(05-10-2015 11:46 PM)Chaos Wrote:  I had what people call "tinnitus" three times.

1. Fell down from the third floor straight into the concrete.
Got knocked out and a blackouted. My hearing sounded like a broken loudspeaker. I thought I was fucked for good. I couldn't handle any bass noises at all. But after 7-8 weeks my hearing got back to normal and the noises started to disappear.

2. A friend of mine pulled a shotgun and started firing when I was sitting next to him
in a boat. After his cavalcade of shot the only thing I could hear was "BEEEEEP". Again, I thought that now my hearing is definitely fucked for good. But eventually after 5-6 weeks the beeping disappeared.

3. After a Motorhead concert at a club in Helsinki. My ears were ringing and ringing.
Couldn't hear almost anything at all. Now I thought.. Well, I deserved it. I have punished my ears so many times so I could see this hearing loss coming. But as always, after a month of heavy ringing the noises faded away.

Every single time I thought that " Well, now my hearing is fucked for good" but they recovered always. I recently had my hearing checked and it was nothing wrong with it.

Isn't it amazing how the body can heal itself.

You probably can't hear higher end frequencies. Makes music especially classical sound less vibrant and rich.
Watch this video. What frequency range cuts out for you? I'm around 15khz now. A year ago it was 16.5khz

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My hearing is good (have them regularly tested) - but I also suffer from Tinnitus. It's most noticeable when it's quite in the evening.

Most of the time I can ignore it, but what I do when it bothers me too much is put on an app that gives these "relaxing background noises" like a beach or a weather storm. That solves it most of the time.

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Hearing loss is permanent. The belief now is that tinnitus is more a brain issue than an ear problem. For instance, some people develop tinnitus after a head injury. However, a lot of people with hearing loss do have tinnitus.

The best thing to do if you develop it is to continue to do what you regularly do in your life.

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I like sleeping in the summer so much more because I can have the window open and hear frogs and crickets which masks it.

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I'm a bit afraid for my hearing.
I bought a decent pair of that in ear decibel lowering ear plugs.
I think my right ear canal is different because I can never get a good seal in that ear.

My family has a history of hearing loss..
I spend a lot of time working at weapons ranges.
I don't notice a big decrease in hearing loss..but my last hearing test was overall lower on every level

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Isn't anyone going to make an Archer reference?





Seriously though, this is something worth caring about.

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For those distracted by tinnitus, try this website:
http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNo...erator.php

It's a customizable white noise creator. You can use it straight from the web page for free, or order custom mp3s, with the white noise in the precise frequencies you need to mask your tinnitus.

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(05-31-2015 09:31 PM)RawGod Wrote:  For those distracted by tinnitus, try this website:
http://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/whiteNo...erator.php

It's a customizable white noise creator. You can use it straight from the web page for free, or order custom mp3s, with the white noise in the precise frequencies you need to mask your tinnitus.

Thanks bro, that really hits the spot, I feel a cooling sensation on my face now, instead of the heaviness that I usually had without white noise. I can now study longer without having to turn on music.

I got permanent tinnitus after taking this drug called cipro Ciprofloxacin.

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If you have trouble sleeping when it's quiet, you can get a white noise machine, like from Amazon,
that make ocean or other typical white noise sounds.

Also, some people like a loud fan or a/c in the summer.

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(05-31-2015 09:41 PM)The_CEO Wrote:  If you have trouble sleeping when it's quiet, you can get a white noise machine, like from Amazon,
that make ocean or other typical white noise sounds.

Also, some people like a loud fan or a/c in the summer.

Yeah, it affects my favorite sleeping side (right). So, I've grown partial to sleeping on my back. I would just let a free app on my phone do all the work, but after I wiped it, I can no longer find the app. I'm pretty sure when I'm finally settled-in I'm going to look for a no holds barred setup that includes these machines thanks to your tip:

http://www.amazon.com/Ecotones-Sound-Sle...se+machine

http://www.amazon.com/Homedics-HDS-2000-...se+machine

I didn't even know things like this existed.

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I haven't fully read the thread, so I don't know if anybody has mentioned trying Vinpocetin. I've been reading up on nootropics and I stumbled upon a few threads about how Vinpocetin can be used to treat tinnitus.

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I currently suffer from what I think is rhinitis. I just bought some COQ10 at the store. Apparently, studies have shown that it can lead to significant improvement in Tinnitus symptoms. COQ10 basically is helpful in improving the blood circulation in your ears. I'm also seriously considering buying an earpopper. The only downside to that device is you need a prescription to buy it. My last ENT denied me a prescription saying he didn't see any effectiveness in the product. The reviews on the other hand are quite promising.

http://www.amazon.com/Summit-Medical-Ear...op?ie=UTF8

I don't know if this is just me, but does anyone else get clogged up when they eat sugary-starchy foods or dairy products? I had some white bread a few days back and I was experiencing fleeting tinnitus as well as clogged ears. It really kind of sucks because I have to avoid some of my favorite foods: pizza, sandwiches, pasta, pastries, etc.

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