Ringing in your ears?

[FieroCDSP]

My hearing issues are from 5 years in marching band in close proximity to drums. The worst ones were the snares. We used high tension drums with Kevlar heads to give us a crisp sound, like a weak 22 shot. Though it sounded impressive, my ears took a beating. Now I have trouble picking out one voice among a lot of ambiant noise. Then there was the one day I decided to try firing my 40cal without protection to see what it's like. Left ear rang loudly for a solid five days. My sense of smell seems to be better than everyone else's though.

 

[TonyW]

I have it too, from having airplanes land on my head once too often. (Berthing right under the three wire isn't the best place to sleep.) I don't know of anything to make it better, you learn to ignore it. It's no problem unless it's very quiet so low background noise helps me some. horge may be on to something, I like crunch snacks and maybe that's why.

 

[mindwip]

Yeah the first couple times i went to a club/concert when i was younger i had no idea music could be that loud. I hated the how loud it was, and did not enjoy it fully. Finally i got the courage to wear ear plugs (before I was wondering what my friends would say), and sense i was wearing them i started to look at peoples ear and i was surprised about 20% of the people had ear plugs in. Of course now i realize that most people will never even know if you have ear plugs because no one really looks inside other peoples ears.


I always bring a baggy of earplugs with me to a club, and hand them out to friends if they want some.

 

[Smokey Joe]

This is going to become a more prevalent problem.

As more and more teens listen to more and more I-pods, and drive more and more cars with stereos you can hear plainly through the closed windows, I predict that we are raising a generation of seriously hearing-impaired adults.

It seems that many "musicians" currently are confusing volume with quality in their output, and the kids don't know any better than to go along with it.

The upside of this widespread problem is, that maybe someone, as they age, in desperation, will come up with a cure for tinnitis. That, or sign language will become a lot more common.

As I understand it, there is no repairing damaged hearing at present. The important thing (as has been pointed out several times above) is to preserve what hearing you have left.

My tinnitis is constant, low-level; never prevents me from hearing anything else. Thank God.

Caused by shooting a few times with no protection, once cutting an aluminum screen door to size on a table saw (God what a racket!!), and--worst--reffing soccer. Guess who gets the most "benefit" from the ref's Acme Thunderer! I'd ref 3-4 games of a Saturday, and my ears would ring loudly until about Wednesday. Did that for about 5 summers.

 

[Feanaro]

I get a ring now and again. I can't remember a time when I didn't have that. Imagine it's from my ear tubes. I had several sets until I was 10. I still have some pressure issues with my right ear. Hear just fine though.

It seems that many "musicians" currently are confusing volume with quality

But it goes up to 11.

 

[JohnL2]

I need to give "Breaking Benjamin" a break. My ears a break anyway.

 

[TexKettering]

I get it when my girlfriend gets naggy...

 

[Mal H]

I think the number of people over the age of 30 that don't have ringing in their ears to some degree is far smaller than those that do.

Besides all the other advice given, my audiologist said to keep salt intake to a minimum. I think that has to do with the blood pressure cause that walking arsenal mentioned.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't trade the things I've done over the years that caused the ringing just to have quiet all the time now. (shooting, music from Beethoven to The Who, salt on my prime rib, etc.)

 

[Sheldon J]

Strep Throat killed mine, tooth problems can cause ringing too, but you just learn to ignore it... Kind of like you do your wife of 30 years... What was that you said dear?

 

[krimmie]

I had the ringing checked out in January. I have a hard time hearing higher frequencies. Mine sounds like crickets chirping in the evening. I was told that hearing aides would remedy the ringing. At 48, I'm not ready for stinking hearing aides.

 

[HuntAndFish]

Huh? Whaddhesay?

 

[p2555016zr]

I have a buzzing / gurgling sound in my head that I hear when its absolutely quiet. I notice it at bedtime. I listen to talk radio at night and that masks the sound. Any background noise masks it.

I've worked in automotive and machinery repair since I was 16 and I'm now 36. Air chisels and grinding on sheet metal have taken their toll on my ears.

 

[sixgunner455]

At 48, I'm not ready for stinking hearing aides.

You know, my dad said the same kind of thing for years. Got hearing aides, and now he won't go anywhere without them. He's kind of a hearing aide geek -- he's on his third set, and always has a spare set of batteries, too.

I have tinnitus, and some hearing loss. Lose what people are saying in some background noise, but usually I'm okay. I expect that my right ear will be getting fitted sooner or later.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Tinnitus noise can be worse with caffeine, high blood pressure (from caffeine or whatever) and alcohol.

I've been through some Jim Beam and wine this evening and the crickets and screamers are going full blast.

 

[springmom]

I've been through some Jim Beam and wine this evening and the crickets and screamers are going full blast.

Yes, but with the Jim Beam and wine you don't care

Springmom, who is sober as a judge and has screamers like crazy this morning.

 

[hso]

If you search tinnitus on this forum you'll find tons of posts.

To prevent it, protect your hearing with plugs and muffs any time noise levels are high (all shooting produces high noise levels).

There is no "cure" nor treatment for tinnitus that is due to noise injury. If your blood pressure is high it can produce ringing and bringing your BP down can get rid of the ringing. Some folks think B vitamins help. Others suggest growth hormone treatments. Whether they're high-tech home remedies or not is unknown.

See a hearing specialist for help and keep those plugs and muffs on when shooting/mowing/running power tools.