Hey kids, it's your old friend here, Captain Beefheart. I've got a book called 'The Live Sound Manual', a text book made by top sound engineers, industry experts ect, a great book. Anyway, there's a section on sound and hearing and in that a couple paragraphs on tinnitus.
"Tinnitus - ringing in the ears - is a common after-effect of loud sound exposure, and can be very upsetting for anyone, whether musically inclined or not. The 'ringing' (the actual sound varies from person to person - it can be metallic clanking, rustling, or something similar to feedback), can be at any frequency (bass, mid, top) and can last for any length of time.
There's is no 'cure' - though the sufferer can employ techniques to help ignore the sound as much as possible. It may also come and go at random - even long-term sufferers have known it to turn off one day, as if a switch has been found by a dozy sound-engineer in your ear.
Sometimes tinnitus has no sonic connection at all - it may be genetic, or brought on by stress, or by some other medical condition (even some drugs can exacerbate or trigger it). But everyone who uses their ears for a living (or even for recreation) should be aware of the facts and the risks."
Here's another little bit...
"If PA engineering is a part-time occupation, try to avoid day jobs that involve regular noise exposure, or exposure you can't control. It doesn't have to be loud - just persistent. (Even quite quiet computer cooling fans can trigger tinnitus - sometimes music played over the top of it actually stops the effect.)
Be 'boring' and wear ear defenders when mowing the grass or using power tools - it all helps reduce your overall exposure and possible long-term damage."
And...
"Tests over the past 30 years on a link between hearing damage and loud music have provided mixed results - often contradictory, and overall surprisingly inconclusive.
It appears likely that certain people simply have a lower hearing-damage threshold than others - so while some can go gigging and clubbing for years with minimal effect, others can show signs of tinnitus (continual ringing in the ears) and other ear problems after only months of exposure to loud music. And sometimes this is just the start of an irreversible deterioration in hearing (which worsens with age in most people anyway)."
Anybody have any more info or feedback on this?
