Tinnitus.. anyone else got it?

[c2cthomas]

I think it was the 50 cal machine gun that got my right ear mucked up - but it could have been the grenades I still go out to 17K tho which ain't bad for 61.

[CBRworm]

17K is great! I am not quite 40 - no grenades, and I can barely hear 17K.

For me the killers (pun intended) were handguns, loud motorcycles and loud music. Although more often than not I used ear protection with the guns.

[jackinnj]

We have tinnitus commercials for a product called "Quietus" on the radio (WABC) all day and all night.

[CBRworm]

Interesting - I have never heard of it. Maybe it will turn off the TV set in my head.

[c2cthomas]

Originally Posted by CBRworm

17K is great! I am not quite 40 - no grenades, and I can barely hear 17K.

For me the killers (pun intended) were handguns, loud motorcycles and loud music. Although more often than not I used ear protection with the guns.

We were doing our semi-annual arms qualifications on the fantail of the ship (if you could hit the water you were qualified) and had taken off our ear protection and some dumb sheit fired up the 50 cal before we cleared the area – I still remember that very clearly. I was fond of the Colt .45 but my fav was the short barreled 12 gauge riot gun. Note to self – DO NOT get in da way of anyone packing 12 gauge riot shot gun

[chili555]

One of my other hobbies, for many years, was sports car racing. I co-drove many years ago at the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Mazda RX-7 that was so loud it felt like an ice-pick in my ears, even with radio earplugs, a balaclava and helmet. After 20+ years of driving, officiating and instructing, yes, I have tinnitus. It is a cruel irony for all of us who love music and seek to reproduce it as faithfully as possible. Now that we have and, presumably, can afford a decent system, we really can't hear it well enough to appreciate it!

Hell, it's so bad that I can barely tell the difference between Kimber 8TC and zipcord!

[c2cthomas]

Originally Posted by chili555

Hell, it's so bad that I can barely tell the difference between Kimber 8TC and zipcord!

[thermal runaway]

Originally Posted by chili555

One of my other hobbies, for many years, was sports car racing. I co-drove many years ago at the 12 Hours of Sebring in a Mazda RX-7 that was so loud it felt like an ice-pick in my ears!

Don't mention Mazda race cars !! I was at Lemans in '93 when Mazda won , that thing was so loud it was impossible to find refuge ANYWHERE around the whole circuit I was just willing it to blow up , but alas it was still lapping the next morning and went on to win !! Actually , thinking back it was probably responsible for the CRT EHT whistle in my right ear

[MJL21193]

Mine is less glamorous: years of construction abuse, too young and stupid to protect my hearing (if I could go back in time and slap myself... ). I have heavy tinnitus in my right ear and hearing loss in both.
The audiologist says the tinnitus is the brain trying to compensate for the hearing loss, especially of certain frequencies. All I know is that the more I'm aware of it, the louder it seems to be.

[AntM]

I have had tinnitus for several years which I attribute to too make loud gigs and listening to (and building) HiFi since I was 17 (I am now 39).

The tinitus comes and goes, depending on stresss and tiredness. I've also noticed that if a really look after my ears for a while, the tinnitus gets bettter (i.e. bring earplugs with me when I am going anwhere with loud music, or listen to my HiFi at low volumes).

My tinnitus has definitely got worse since I had kids (they tend to cry and scream a lot). It's also got worse worse in the last couple of weeks since I started building a new fullrange. I also work in the audio industry, so I have to be careful on my exposure levels at work.

My advice
1 - try to ignore it as much as possible. Don't concentrate on it, don't talk about it (I'm breaking my own advice here), don't worry about it as focussing on it makes it worse, increases your stress and the pattern repeats.
2 - avoid all loud environments and stop using headphones( or buy noise-cancelling headphones so you can turn the music level down). If you do something that makes the tinitus worse, stop doing it, otherwise you will regret it by the time you are 39!
3 - cut out caffeine completely. That made a huge difference to my tinnitus. You need to make sure that all of the caffeine is out of your system, which means going cold-turkey for 2-3 weeks.
4 - avoid alcohol. I've never quite figured out whether it is the noise of the pub or the alcohol that makes it worse.
5 - limit your HiFi dose to short periods, at times where you can get the most out of the music a nd really enjoy it
6 - buy earplugs and carry them with you,
7 - when you have kids, make sure you have quiet ones :-~)

Hope this helps. It sounds draconion, but it may be worth at least trying each of the above, one at a time until you find out the one that really works for you. I do all of the above, but have relapses from time to time... I've currently fallen off the wagon due to my fullrange project and the approach of Christmas spirit, so my right ear has starting playing up again...