Getting rid of Tinnitus (if possible)

[lionaudio]

Depending on whether you have health insurance that will cover it, there are ways to at least minimize the effects of tinnitus, but they are very expensive. My brother in law has gone to concerts alot since he was a teenager. He developed a loud ringing in one ear that would not go away. An audiologist fitted him with an earpiece that emits specific frequencies and trains the ear to be more or less sensitive to those frequencies. After wearing it for a year, he has noticed that his ears only ring when he is around loud noises. He now wears ear plugs at concerts, and says that the ear piece was a life saver. The cost is around $4,000, not including the cost of the actual Dr. visits. I also have tinnitus that comes and goes. I've played in super loud bands for most of my life, and I am actually used to it. It only bothers me when I'm trying to listen to someone speak and there is alot of background noise. Definitely not worth 4 grand to me... yet

[nobody, really]

There really is nothing worse than eq-ing close miked cymbals with a eye-watering, gut-rumbling hangover.

ohhh, yes there fucking is! how about standing in front of the packing conveyor belt at 7am in the middle of winter in WA in a giant unheated warehouse after a night of milwaukee's ice. brutal. and all for 7.50 and hour. and they get grumpy when your productivity slacks, and when you have to go to the bathroom too much.

[lancebug]

+1 on caffeine and sleep. I got it pretty bad after a Melvins show 3 or 4 years ago. Drove me crazy. Its gotten better over the last year or two. Not gone, but quieter and I obsess over it less, which means I suffer less. I still drink coffee, but in moderation. When I overdo the caffeine it kicks up a notch. Same with not getting enough rest.

[junkstar]

Mine is brutal. When I'm cautious, it subsides a bit, but it never goes away. Be good to your ears, kids.

[lee]

Short story: I used to do sound at a small venue on the outskirts of Detroit. The place usually booked acoustic acts, but on this particular night we had some kids come in who just refused to turn their amps below 11. The drummer just murdered the kit. They were so loud that it was real pain when I removed my ear plugs; I look around at the 50 kids in the audience, and all of them just stood there, doing a shy little dance, not wanting to look like a nerd by acknowledging the fact that it was way too loud.

My point is, I think that the cure for tinnitus is being informed that loud music will fuck your shit up, and bringing earplugs to concerts is standard procedure. I know that everyone here knows this, of course (probably a little too late, like myself), but we have to impart that knowledge onto the next generation of hearers.

And fuck those homicidal cocks who think that rocking the shit out of a tiny little venue is cool. It's obviously wrong to consciously assault someone's body, so why is it acceptable to physically assault someone's hearing?

[MoreSpaceEcho]

but we have to impart that knowledge onto the next generation of hearers.

unfortunately this seems like a real losing battle. i try, and i always will, but it seems no matter how much i say "trust the old guy. really. i'm telling you from direct experience." they're always like "man i just can't deal with plugs man".

[jgimbel]

but we have to impart that knowledge onto the next generation of hearers.

unfortunately this seems like a real losing battle. i try, and i always will, but it seems no matter how much i say "trust the old guy. really. i'm telling you from direct experience." they're always like "man i just can't deal with plugs man".

Not all of us! I'm happy to be on your side of this! I remember the first concert I went to, thinking "why is it so loud? You can barely make out the various instruments, what's the point?". I wear plugs now anywhere they're going to be blasting music, and always recommend it to others. I'll work on a PSA!

[coolnm57]

I got out of school recently, studying psychology. We forayed into psychoacoustics and here's what I remember. FYI I have tinnitus too, so I was really interested in figuring out a way to combat it.

Your inner ear has hair cells which look kind of like those big tall hats you see garden gnomes wearing. They have slits in them which release neurotransmitters when the cells bend backward, induced by air pressure (aka hearing something).

So tinnitus is basically hearing something so loud that the hair cell (gnome hat) bends back so far it kind of snaps and it can't be snapped back into position. I also think of it as a piece of uncooked spaghetti breaking in half. People have tried to fix it manually but these cells are inside your cochlea and it's nearly impossible to get there without some sort of crazy advanced nanotechnology.

My advice is to see the audiologist and get custom ear plugs. They make a special kind for about $150 that will lower all EQ bands equally by 9, 15, or 21 dB (something to that effect) so you don't compromise your natural EQ curves as much as you would with Hearos or something cheapo. They will take molds of your ears using this weird mashed potato stuff and you get them shipped to you a few weeks later. Then wear them to any loud event. Extra tip... buy two pair as they tend to get lost.

Also, try sleeping with a fan on or any humming noise. This helps mask tinnitus and gets you better sleep, which was an issue I had hearing loud ringing when my ear was against the pillow sideways.

Hopefully this helps... if anything's too inaccurate please correct me!

N

[lionaudio]

+1 on sleeping with a fan on... i need some kind of ambient sound happening when I'm falling asleep or the ringing can sometimes get pretty bad