Tinitus

I´ve just been wonderin´ if anyone of you guys got it (the never ending peep sound inside your head wich never goes away) and if it bothers you.

I don´t have it yet but it seems like evryone who´s into music gets it. I always use ear plugs though. Some say ear plugs take the feelin´ away but I think it´s just bull. It sounds better with good ear plugs so don´t be afaraid to use them.

Loud tinitus is the last thing a musican need our anyone else by that matter.

PPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

You might think that rock-musicians are the most exposed group,
but they are not!
In rock music 40% have it.
In classical music its 55%!

I've had it since I was 16.
If it bothers me?
Well, no not really.
Although one thing that bothers me is that I
will never experience total silence again.
Even if you rock n roll around the clock, you still
once in a while want to just sit down and relax
without any sounds or noises, and I cant really do that
since my brain is making all kinds of noises 24/7.
I dont even remember what silence "sounds" like.
Luckily I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, so
I dont have a problem falling asleep at night.

I agree with you that you should always use earplugs,
because even though my tinnitus doesnt bother me that much,
believe me, you dont want it.
I've always used earplugs, but then at a concert I didnt
use them so I could hear my guitar better, I played
a couple of songs and presto! Tinnitus!

Mine consists of three sounds:
thunder from a distance
peeeeeeeep!
and the 3rd sounds like the sound of an old TV
when you turn the volume down.

But I've learned to live with it, so now I only hear
it if its quiet and if Im thinking about it,
otherwise I never notice it.

So:
Always use earplugs!!
If you get tinnitus, accept it.
If you dont get severe tinnitus, you'll hardly
notice it if you're not thinking about it all the time.
Theres no cure, so thats the best thing you can do.
Its the harsh truth.

I get it, but I rarely notice it because my brain won't stop thinking.

Maaaaan! It is the first time I hear about that! Something similar happened to me after a gig of one of my favorite bands, but the noises stopped after one day

If you play loud, its gotta hurt sooner or later. Take a look at this.

Back when I was playing for pay, waaaay back!), I spent most of my time crouching in front of a pair of 2-15 cabs driven by a Garnet BTO amplifier. I'm amazed that I can stil hear anything!

I use a small 5 Watt amp most of the time now. It sounds really good, and if I want to make it louder I can mic it into the PA mixer.

You should never be able to experience true silence, because there is a default-tone in the normal human ear. you can hear it when it is silent around you - pay attention when you go to bed - you should hear it.

A tinnitus itself is the same, but tonns of times louder. the real Tinnitus can infact be louder than the normal dayly noise (so i guess what mc9mm has is no "real" Tinnitus - at best a little one *L*). thats when it becomes realy annoying and horrible. a constant tone that is there no matter what you do. There are several methods to treat it, but the best method is to prevent your ear from extreme aural influences (though that is not the only reason for a Tinnitus - it can also occur after a heavy cold or other deseases).

If you experience that the tone in your ear is getting significantly louder, do not hesitate to se a doc, for the earlier you do something against it, the better are the chances for it to be cured. else you will have to stick with it for your whole life.. some peeps have even lost their mind because it is VERY hard to bear.

[Edited by Azrael on 02-07-2003 at 01:29 AM]

Chances are good to cure it when it is discovered in an early state. also, there are new methods that can reduce the tinitus to a bearable ammount of "PEEEEP" . My dad has one and next week he´ll be getting this new treatment. they say the results are very good - we will see.

Tinitis resulting from exposure to loud sounds is permanent. Most of the 'background noise' we experience is caused by the vibrations in tense muscles. Next time you're in a quiet place, try clenching your jaws. You will har the noise level increase.

Our ears contain many small hairs (called cilia ?), which act to tune out a lot of this background noise. Loud sounds, or other physical shock, can break, or damage these hairs, destroying their ability to reduce the background noise. The result is intense, self-inflicted noise. As Asrael has mentioned, because this sound is always there, it can become unbearable, possibly leading to madness and/or suicide.

Originally posted by Azrael
Chances are good to cure it when it is discovered in an early state. also, there are new methods that can reduce the tinitus to a bearable ammount of "PEEEEP" . My dad has one and next week he´ll be getting this new treatment. they say the results are very good - we will see.

I wish him well. I think, as musicians, we all harbour some fear about how damage to our hearing would affect our lives.

if i had to choose between eyesight and hearing i would rather want to lose eyesight than my aural abilities