I've recently developed loud and intrusive tinnitus, and was wondering if anyone else has it and how do you cope? Sessions actually seem to be one of the only times I don't notice it as much so that's good news, but I won't be sitting next to a fiddle for a while . . .
I only have mild tinnitus in one ear. For most of the time I don't notice. I certainly wouldn't notice it in a session!! So really I'm better off spending more time at sessions - any excuse!!
What I miss is the ability to ever achieve total peace!!
I had it when I played rock and roll in the mid-60's. My ears used to ring for days after we played a gig. I have not experienced it since then even though I play 5-6 sessions a week.
Are there any other possible loud noises that you are experiencing? Do you use headphones a lot? How about on the job? I have noticed that certain parts of my body react differently than they used do as I age, particularly after 55 years old. Just some thought! I don't think it is the ITM.
No, I've had it for years but last year I turned on a compresser that was way too loud before I had my ear protectors on and that caused it to go a bit louder, but not much. Then I got a throat infection at Christmas, got all snotty since and then developed loud tinnitus about a month ago - I can hear it above the TV and pretty much everything else. Went to a pop concert (no earplugs - be warned) and it increased in frequency making it more intrusive.
Sometimes I don't notice it but I'm more worried it will interfere with playing ITM more than anything really.
Went to the ENT specialist yesterday and had all sorts of things poked in my head and he peered in all my head-holes (!)
I've got an MRI scan due but that's purely precautionary, so it looks rather unpromising (his advice was "For God's sake don't listen to it" which seems difficult give the volume).
TRT is an alternative, but I just wanted see if anyone else lives with this and how it effects them.
I have pervasive tinnitus from 18 years as a nightclub DJ. My hearing is actually pretty good still. I have a bit of midrange loss in the last couple of years, which will most likely continue, but even as recently as 4 years ago, I had "superhuman" hearing - the only problem was discerning the high pitched sounds in the test from the tinnitus.
Mine doesn't bother me in most circumstances. I sleep with a white noise generator, which helps me refrain from getting sensitized to the "million crickets".
I had a period a couple years ago where certain frequencies, especially coming out of the uilleann pipes, would seem to distort a bit, and cause discomfort and some slight dizziness. But after the battery of tests (have you had the one where they put you in a dark room, blow hot and cold air into your ears, and make you watch moving lights to see if they can make you really sick yet? Fun, lemme tell ya!), they didn't really find a cause. They don't think it was related to the tinnitus, and it seems to have subsided anyway.
I have had tinnitus as the result of a concussion a few years ago. A 3-hole punch fell on the top of my head resulting in damage to the collochia in my middle ear. I have it 24/7 and fiddling is actually one of the ways that muffles it a bit.
My own concern is pitch. I am really not certain sometimes whether I am playing in tune because of certain sound pitches from the tinnitus. Has anyone else had this problem?
As for any help, I can't help you there Jack. I am struggling with it myself. I feel your pain.
I realized I had tinnitus a few years ago, when I walked around the house late at night trying to find out where that sound of running water was coming from.... I think it was just age-related, although my rock-n-roll years might have contributed too. But I don't think that unamplified ITM is loud enough to produce it.
It's good that you had a doctor look you over. A bad ear infection can result in total deafness.
Sometimes I congratulte myself for giving up rock & roll just as it was getting dangerously loud. Some of my old bandmates who stayed with it eventually had significant hearing loss. Some people seem to survive it pretty well, though.
There's a theory that extra B vitamins and bioflavinoids may help. I take a supplement called Lipo-flavonoid (DSE healcare solutions). Sometimes. I think it helps, sometimes not.
I have tinnitus and 60% loss of hearing in my right ear.
It happened quite suddenly a year and a half ago, and the doctors say nothing can be done about it.
I manage OK and only really notice it when I´m in complete silence or in a very noisy bar.
At sessions I have to position myself so that the melody instruments are on my left or in front of me and rhythm or percussion instruments are on my "blind" side. If it´s the other way round, I can´t hear when the tunes change !
I've had seriously bad tinnitus for at least 12 years now (could explain my bad temper on TheSession sometimes - give me a break then, Jeremy! You don't need the details. I've coped with it quite well on the whole by telling myself that the last thing I need is mental crutches to rely on. No constant music at night, that sort of thing. The place you will never find me is in the latest meeting of the local tinnitus support group. You have this bloody noise, twenty four seven, but you also have just one life and you might as well deal with it. It never troubles me in bed, though I can wake up to go for a pee and it's screaming in my head. Just like it is right now, but that's only because you b*st*rds have reminded me of it! I have other physical problems too such as galloping osteoarthritis, but you wouldn't think so if you saw me gallavanting round Bude. I'm buggered if I'm going to give in just yet, and when it finally comes I've got the whole of Bach and opera to console me (I've been saving it up). Good news = grit yer teeth and enjoy life. Bad news = wallow in self-pity. In about 38 years' time, if I get my way, I'll die fighting, Talisker in hand. I just can't see myself drowning in a sea of self-pity. Your mileage may severely vary, but that's my way of getting through! It's a thing I don't mind nattering about offlist, by the way, but I have no answers of course!
Hey y'all ! Does the ringing in my ears bother you? Yeah, I have it too. I know that certain anti-inflamitory drugs make it much louder. I know that there is a set of CDs which have been shown to help- They are computer-altered music or nature sounds which you listen to every day to give your physical and neurological hearing gear a massage, allowing a more complete functioning of your entire frequency spectrum. They are the Samonas recordings, available on the site toolsforwellness.com.
Jesus - I'm sitting on my sofa this morning congratulating myself on a good night's dealing with this new racket in my head when BANG! another loud buzz starts off - as sure as if someone turned on a switch.
I just try not to let it bother me and mostly get on with enjoying the good things in life. But I know where you're coming from Steve
I feel sorry for the kids blasting their ears with loud ipods ...
Well, we're not alone... Me too... I had a serious lung infection, in fact my lungs seem to lean in that direction if there's something going, like now. This was so bad that they started me on some heavy duty body evacuating anti-biotics. The first lot, strong as they were, didn't work, then they came out with the horse pills, thumb sized. No, they weren't supositories. I had to suffer those gulps for a couple of weeks. They seemed to work, but the side effect was tinitus in my right ear. I have also learned to live with it, but reminders like this make it obvious again. There are times I've used it to tune to, finding A-440 somewhere in the fizz of it all...
So, my cause ~ a lung infection and antibiotics. I have since read that antibiotics and other drugs can bring it on. At least in my rock and roll moments I was wise enough to use ear plugs, unlike some folks here...
I had that since I can remember.... When I was a small kid I used to wake my parents in the middle of the night and ask them what that noise was! Of course, they wouldn't hear anything and tell me to go back to sleep...
Anyways, the intensity seems to come and go, sometimes it's like like a very high pitched whistle sound. Some sources say that part of it may be caused by the noise of the bloodstream in your ears.
I had all sorts of tests done and the results were that my hearing is excellent otherwise. So it's just a predicament I had to learn with!
I have been doing music for almost 40 years and it never really bothered me.
Tinnitus and ITM
Tinnitus and ITM
I've recently developed loud and intrusive tinnitus, and was wondering if anyone else has it and how do you cope? Sessions actually seem to be one of the only times I don't notice it as much so that's good news, but I won't be sitting next to a fiddle for a while . . .
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I only have mild tinnitus in one ear. For most of the time I don't notice. I certainly wouldn't notice it in a session!! So really I'm better off spending more time at sessions - any excuse!!
What I miss is the ability to ever achieve total peace!!
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Tarrantella
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I had it when I played rock and roll in the mid-60's. My ears used to ring for days after we played a gig. I have not experienced it since then even though I play 5-6 sessions a week.
Are there any other possible loud noises that you are experiencing? Do you use headphones a lot? How about on the job? I have noticed that certain parts of my body react differently than they used do as I age, particularly after 55 years old. Just some thought! I don't think it is the ITM.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Celtic Guitar
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I agree. Like you, CG, when I'm on the job, parts of my body react differently than they used to as well.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Did the tinnitus start with a particular "audio incident," Jack?
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
No, I've had it for years but last year I turned on a compresser that was way too loud before I had my ear protectors on and that caused it to go a bit louder, but not much. Then I got a throat infection at Christmas, got all snotty since and then developed loud tinnitus about a month ago - I can hear it above the TV and pretty much everything else. Went to a pop concert (no earplugs - be warned) and it increased in frequency making it more intrusive.
Sometimes I don't notice it but I'm more worried it will interfere with playing ITM more than anything really.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Go see a doctor, especially since a throat infection seems to have been involved. The doctor might refer you to an ENT clinic or specialist.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Went to the ENT specialist yesterday and had all sorts of things poked in my head and he peered in all my head-holes (!)
I've got an MRI scan due but that's purely precautionary, so it looks rather unpromising (his advice was "For God's sake don't listen to it" which seems difficult give the volume).
TRT is an alternative, but I just wanted see if anyone else lives with this and how it effects them.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I have pervasive tinnitus from 18 years as a nightclub DJ. My hearing is actually pretty good still. I have a bit of midrange loss in the last couple of years, which will most likely continue, but even as recently as 4 years ago, I had "superhuman" hearing - the only problem was discerning the high pitched sounds in the test from the tinnitus.
Mine doesn't bother me in most circumstances. I sleep with a white noise generator, which helps me refrain from getting sensitized to the "million crickets".
I had a period a couple years ago where certain frequencies, especially coming out of the uilleann pipes, would seem to distort a bit, and cause discomfort and some slight dizziness. But after the battery of tests (have you had the one where they put you in a dark room, blow hot and cold air into your ears, and make you watch moving lights to see if they can make you really sick yet? Fun, lemme tell ya!), they didn't really find a cause. They don't think it was related to the tinnitus, and it seems to have subsided anyway.
Good luck with it!
Pete
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I have had tinnitus as the result of a concussion a few years ago. A 3-hole punch fell on the top of my head resulting in damage to the collochia in my middle ear. I have it 24/7 and fiddling is actually one of the ways that muffles it a bit.
My own concern is pitch. I am really not certain sometimes whether I am playing in tune because of certain sound pitches from the tinnitus. Has anyone else had this problem?
As for any help, I can't help you there Jack. I am struggling with it myself. I feel your pain.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by Pirate-Fiddler
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
"when I'm on the job, parts of my body react differently than they used to as well." Hmm, don't think we really needed to know that, Ben!
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by strayaway
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I have it in one ear. Generally I just ignore it. The hearing sensitivity in that ear is also a bit less than the other.
I just attribute it to a young and foolish life playing rock and roll organ next to a bunch of custom columns and celeste leslies way back when.
I was indestructable then.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by zippydw
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I realized I had tinnitus a few years ago, when I walked around the house late at night trying to find out where that sound of running water was coming from.... I think it was just age-related, although my rock-n-roll years might have contributed too. But I don't think that unamplified ITM is loud enough to produce it.
It's good that you had a doctor look you over. A bad ear infection can result in total deafness.
# Posted on March 5th 2008 by mickray
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Sometimes I congratulte myself for giving up rock & roll just as it was getting dangerously loud. Some of my old bandmates who stayed with it eventually had significant hearing loss. Some people seem to survive it pretty well, though.
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
There's a theory that extra B vitamins and bioflavinoids may help. I take a supplement called Lipo-flavonoid (DSE healcare solutions). Sometimes. I think it helps, sometimes not.
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by musicstudent
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I have tinnitus and 60% loss of hearing in my right ear.
It happened quite suddenly a year and a half ago, and the doctors say nothing can be done about it.
I manage OK and only really notice it when I´m in complete silence or in a very noisy bar.
At sessions I have to position myself so that the melody instruments are on my left or in front of me and rhythm or percussion instruments are on my "blind" side. If it´s the other way round, I can´t hear when the tunes change !
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by murfbox
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I've had seriously bad tinnitus for at least 12 years now (could explain my bad temper on TheSession sometimes - give me a break then, Jeremy!
You don't need the details. I've coped with it quite well on the whole by telling myself that the last thing I need is mental crutches to rely on. No constant music at night, that sort of thing. The place you will never find me is in the latest meeting of the local tinnitus support group. You have this bloody noise, twenty four seven, but you also have just one life and you might as well deal with it. It never troubles me in bed, though I can wake up to go for a pee and it's screaming in my head. Just like it is right now, but that's only because you b*st*rds have reminded me of it! 
I have other physical problems too such as galloping osteoarthritis, but you wouldn't think so if you saw me gallavanting round Bude. I'm buggered if I'm going to give in just yet, and when it finally comes I've got the whole of Bach and opera to console me (I've been saving it up). Good news = grit yer teeth and enjoy life. Bad news = wallow in self-pity. In about 38 years' time, if I get my way, I'll die fighting, Talisker in hand. I just can't see myself drowning in a sea of self-pity. Your mileage may severely vary, but that's my way of getting through! It's a thing I don't mind nattering about offlist, by the way, but I have no answers of course! 
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Hey y'all ! Does the ringing in my ears bother you? Yeah, I have it too. I know that certain anti-inflamitory drugs make it much louder. I know that there is a set of CDs which have been shown to help- They are computer-altered music or nature sounds which you listen to every day to give your physical and neurological hearing gear a massage, allowing a more complete functioning of your entire frequency spectrum. They are the Samonas recordings, available on the site toolsforwellness.com.
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by Pete Goehring
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Yeah, strayaway. And of course, what I meant was, it's even better now!
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by benhall.1
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Jesus - I'm sitting on my sofa this morning congratulating myself on a good night's dealing with this new racket in my head when BANG! another loud buzz starts off - as sure as if someone turned on a switch.
Time to phone the doc's again . . .
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I just try not to let it bother me and mostly get on with enjoying the good things in life. But I know where you're coming from Steve
I feel sorry for the kids blasting their ears with loud ipods ...
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by dogbox
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Well, we're not alone... Me too... I had a serious lung infection, in fact my lungs seem to lean in that direction if there's something going, like now. This was so bad that they started me on some heavy duty body evacuating anti-biotics. The first lot, strong as they were, didn't work, then they came out with the horse pills, thumb sized. No, they weren't supositories. I had to suffer those gulps for a couple of weeks. They seemed to work, but the side effect was tinitus in my right ear. I have also learned to live with it, but reminders like this make it obvious again. There are times I've used it to tune to, finding A-440 somewhere in the fizz of it all...
So, my cause ~ a lung infection and antibiotics. I have since read that antibiotics and other drugs can bring it on. At least in my rock and roll moments I was wise enough to use ear plugs, unlike some folks here...
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by ceolachan
I have also heard that decongestants have worked to clear it for some few people, and one of the herbs too, can't remember which one right now.
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by ceolachan
Sugarfoot Jack, I hate it, but there doesn't seem anything that can be done about it, so I've learned to live with it...
# Posted on March 6th 2008 by ceolachan
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
I had that since I can remember.... When I was a small kid I used to wake my parents in the middle of the night and ask them what that noise was! Of course, they wouldn't hear anything and tell me to go back to sleep...
Anyways, the intensity seems to come and go, sometimes it's like like a very high pitched whistle sound. Some sources say that part of it may be caused by the noise of the bloodstream in your ears.
I had all sorts of tests done and the results were that my hearing is excellent otherwise. So it's just a predicament I had to learn with!
I have been doing music for almost 40 years and it never really bothered me.
# Posted on March 13th 2008 by québécois
Re: Tinnitus and ITM
Folks,
Here are 2 links of Tinnitus therapies :
<http://www.toolsforwellness.com/index.html?gclid=CPbN1fzGy5ICFRr7lgodXDsbbA>;
<http://www.toolsforwellness.com/ce301.html>;
# Posted on April 8th 2008 by Pete Goehring