Unfortunately I have subjected myself to most of the hearing reducing tinitus inducing behaviors mentioned here. I played in a band, worked in a rehersal studio, played with guns (my favorite was the 12 gauge, works wonders on stubborn TV sets) raced cars, (as mentioned the Mazda rotary has the most annoying painful sound on the track, chasing it trying to pass is worse than driving) too many rock concerts including front of the pit at Metallica.
However:
About 20 years ago my world started spinning. I couldn't stand up. Sleeping was nearly inpossible. Puking from extreme dizziness was common. Attacks would come on with no warning, making driving a car or going to work impossible. Several doctors had no clue. Then the previously mild tinitus became extremely loud, and was the predictor of an impending attack. A hearing speciallist confirmed Menieres. He said that I had lost 15 db hearing in one ear, 20 db in the other. It would likely get worse, but there had been cases where it just went away. After almost a year of living with my head in a blender, the dizziness subsided and the loud roar turned to a medium field full of crickets.
After almost 20 years it has returned. There was almost a step function loss of hearing. Within a week I became unable to understand people talking in a normal conversation, especially females. The dizziness is back but it is not to the point of dysfunction yet. I feal nauseated and generally useless for a day or two after an attack of dizziness.
I went to see a well recommended speciallist who said that I was now 40 db deaf in both ears with no hearing above 4KHz. And very limited low frequency hearing. The loss of low frequencies is indicitave of middle ear damage and not caused by exposure damage.
I find this odd since I can hear the basser cars comming 4 blocks away. This has to do with the way the tests are done. They play a tone at a very low level and slowly turn it up until you hear it. Of course I can't hear things masked by the tinitus. I can however hear a wide range of frequencies, it just has to be played quite loud. Experiments with a big amp and an audio oscillator revealed that I can hear 15 Hz to 15 KHz if the volume is turned up. The highs are masked by the tinitus to the point that cranking 18 KHz will cause a queasy fealing (not unlike an impending dizziness atack) before I hear it.
However:
About 20 years ago my world started spinning. I couldn't stand up. Sleeping was nearly inpossible. Puking from extreme dizziness was common. Attacks would come on with no warning, making driving a car or going to work impossible. Several doctors had no clue. Then the previously mild tinitus became extremely loud, and was the predictor of an impending attack. A hearing speciallist confirmed Menieres. He said that I had lost 15 db hearing in one ear, 20 db in the other. It would likely get worse, but there had been cases where it just went away. After almost a year of living with my head in a blender, the dizziness subsided and the loud roar turned to a medium field full of crickets.
After almost 20 years it has returned. There was almost a step function loss of hearing. Within a week I became unable to understand people talking in a normal conversation, especially females. The dizziness is back but it is not to the point of dysfunction yet. I feal nauseated and generally useless for a day or two after an attack of dizziness.
I went to see a well recommended speciallist who said that I was now 40 db deaf in both ears with no hearing above 4KHz. And very limited low frequency hearing. The loss of low frequencies is indicitave of middle ear damage and not caused by exposure damage.
I find this odd since I can hear the basser cars comming 4 blocks away. This has to do with the way the tests are done. They play a tone at a very low level and slowly turn it up until you hear it. Of course I can't hear things masked by the tinitus. I can however hear a wide range of frequencies, it just has to be played quite loud. Experiments with a big amp and an audio oscillator revealed that I can hear 15 Hz to 15 KHz if the volume is turned up. The highs are masked by the tinitus to the point that cranking 18 KHz will cause a queasy fealing (not unlike an impending dizziness atack) before I hear it.
Why do you think I am now building hundred watt per channel tube amps instead of 2 watt SE amps? Seriously I still listen to my 45 based Tubelab SE a lot. But I did build some more sensitive speakers!
I have been to a few speciallists and all agree it isn't going to get better. I am now investigating hearing aids to be able to communicate effectively at work.
I've got it in both ears...early in my career I worked in a plant that stamped out 80,000 suspension control arms a day from 0.120" (3 mm) thick steel. The din of the transfer presses in the stamping area was overpowering and in 1970 ear protection was not on the radar screen. Many rock concerts also undoubtedly contributed. It's there all the time but not obtrusive if you don't focus on it...more prominent at night when it's very quiet.
Ditto work in auto repair, but I think the 6 12" Jensens in my guitar cabinet may have had something to do with my rt side hearing loss and tinnitus. drives me nuts at night when I'm trying to go to sleep...maybe the reason I like my headphones as I can turn it up loud enough I can't hear the ringing.
Regards, Elwood
Regards, Elwood
I have it mainly in my left ear due to an ear infection a couple of years ago that had me falling ar$e over head. I thought I was having a stroke!!!!! Although I do get it in both ears on the days that I take Codeine for a football incident back in July. (badly dislocated knee).
Worse too if i'm tired or stressed out..........or if i've just been to a Metallica concert!!!! (?)
Worse too if i'm tired or stressed out..........or if i've just been to a Metallica concert!!!! (?)
I take a pinch of piracetam now and then in a cup of coffee. It has made me even more super human than I was before. piracetam research: 114 studies
Yesh, I got tinnitus in both ears but, it a bit worse in my left ear.
Judging buy some discriptions of this condition I have read on the net, I don't think mine is that bad compared to some. At least I can live with it and it does seem to minmize its self depending on what I eat/drink etc.
In addition, I do have a very hi freq hearing loss but, some is probably just due to my age which is 64. Actually, since I retired, my hearing has improved a bit.
When I was in my 20s to mid 30s, I worked as a bass guitarist in various rock bands These were the days before the use of on stage hearing protection and the widespread use of stage monitors. The end result was that my ears were really abused at times.
Also, I had a penchant for high end audio, I had a Heathkit 300w rms PC amp with a pair of "JBL L100 speakers" and a Thorens turntable with a "shure V15 tpe3 cartrige" for examples..... real high end stuff for that era. Yeah, I liked it loud at times.
In addition, I worked in noisy enviourment most of my life.
So, yeah, my ears have seen better days but, I did start taking better care of them years ago. However, some damage was already done.
However, fast forward...... recently (after retireing) I decide to get back into more than basic, crap audio. Nothing fancy but, I thought I could still enjoy music using sensible volume with a clean, balanced (for me) sound.
Yeah, I can no longer hear the super highs (most my age can't) but it can still sound good and clear with the righ components.
My one vice is now coffee and, as already stated by others, it (caffine) can be bad for tinnitus. So, it's one cup of real coffee in the morning for me and caffine free coffee if I want another cup during that day.
So, for any young peple out there reading this..... Please take care of your ears!
Sadly there was no one to tell me this when I was young.
Judging buy some discriptions of this condition I have read on the net, I don't think mine is that bad compared to some. At least I can live with it and it does seem to minmize its self depending on what I eat/drink etc.
In addition, I do have a very hi freq hearing loss but, some is probably just due to my age which is 64. Actually, since I retired, my hearing has improved a bit.
When I was in my 20s to mid 30s, I worked as a bass guitarist in various rock bands These were the days before the use of on stage hearing protection and the widespread use of stage monitors. The end result was that my ears were really abused at times.
Also, I had a penchant for high end audio, I had a Heathkit 300w rms PC amp with a pair of "JBL L100 speakers" and a Thorens turntable with a "shure V15 tpe3 cartrige" for examples..... real high end stuff for that era. Yeah, I liked it loud at times.
In addition, I worked in noisy enviourment most of my life.
So, yeah, my ears have seen better days but, I did start taking better care of them years ago. However, some damage was already done.
However, fast forward...... recently (after retireing) I decide to get back into more than basic, crap audio. Nothing fancy but, I thought I could still enjoy music using sensible volume with a clean, balanced (for me) sound.
Yeah, I can no longer hear the super highs (most my age can't) but it can still sound good and clear with the righ components.
My one vice is now coffee and, as already stated by others, it (caffine) can be bad for tinnitus. So, it's one cup of real coffee in the morning for me and caffine free coffee if I want another cup during that day.
So, for any young peple out there reading this..... Please take care of your ears!
Sadly there was no one to tell me this when I was young.
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now that I think about it 1979 0r 80 24HRS at Daytona big year for Mazda RX3SP/Cosmo/RX7... earsplitting the RX3SP coming off the trioval into the road course flames spewing several feet out of the exhaust loudest thing on the track
Porsche all varieties ,Ferarri 512BB ,BMW M1 did not hold a candle.
nothing like burning rubber,racing fuel, and hot babes from Europe hanging around the paddocks....
mE
Porsche all varieties ,Ferarri 512BB ,BMW M1 did not hold a candle.
nothing like burning rubber,racing fuel, and hot babes from Europe hanging around the paddocks....
mE
As for my hearing, a dozen years of racing a big-block alloy Chev in a McLaren Can-Am car (about two feet behind your ears) pretty well did in my high-end hearing. Surprisingly, the docs said I recovered much of that over the last eight years. Go figure. I celebrated by building myself a Nelson Pass F5 DIY.....!!
It is also an audio forum, so I can discuss SPL. Exact numbers unknown.
Loud, my 2.2 liter FWD Dodge with only a 1 foot long 3 inch diameter down pipe from the turbo pointing at the ground. Hey it was the late 80's and allowed at the track.
Louder and painful, The RX-7 equipped with a SuperTrapp "muffler" with all diffuser discs removed.
Even louder, In the pit against the rail at a Metallica concert (load tour). Music was loud, the pyro was extremely loud and hot.
Way louder. Standing on the firing line while a 50 calibre rifle was fired. Even with earplugs it was loud and the shock wave was felt.
The loudest thing I have ever heard, standing against the fence 20 feet from the drag strip when a top fuel dragster launches into a 5 second practice run.
Since this is an audio electronics forum I should explain that in 1989 at the age of 37 I decided to go to college and get an engineering degree. I was into solid state audio and microprocessors then. I was driving said FWD Dodge Charger at the time, before the "sport compact" craze and the current jiggowatt car audio systems were popular. I was designing and building microprocessor based gizmos to fool the primitive 1984 fuel injection system into allowing more boost and removing the pesky rev limiter. I also built a rather unique audio project for that car.
As with most engineering degrees you must complete at least one major project. In my case the teacher said we could do any project we wanted subject to one condition. We had to define a project and its measurement criteria up front and we would be held to that criteria. I calmly stated that I would build a car stereo system, and I stated that the teacher would hit his head on the roof of the car when I turned it on. The class got a good laugh, and my proposal was accepted.
I built an SMPS to take 12 volts and create +/- 35 volts and a second SMPS to make +/- 50 volts. There were 4 identical amps running from the low voltage supply using plastic BJT transistors that made about 50 watts each. Each amp fed its own speaker. There was one amp running from the 100 volt supply that made over 100 watts using TO3 transistors that fed the 15 inch sub in the hatchback. It worked, and I got my degree. I no longer have that car but I still have the amp and 15 inch speaker. The system was dubbed the Master Blaster.
After reading the above stories and realizing that I have many more, isn't it obvious why I have Tinitus?
Sensory hair cells regenerated, hearing restored in mammal ear
Sensory hair cells regenerated, hearing restored in mammal ear
Sensory hair cells regenerated, hearing restored in mammal ear
Fascinating stuff which gives us hope. However, I was speaking to one of the professors at Southampton University recently who was speculating that it may not repair both inner and outer hair cells. This implies that it may not fully restore the normal dynamic characteristics of hearing and cure tinnitus. But very promising all the same.
More scary is this: ototoxicity:
They have shown that a large number of prescription drugs (including aspirin) can cause progressive hearing damage, together with tinnitus. Worse-still, it can make the ear more sensitive to damage to noise exposure. Lesson: do not expose your ears to loud sounds if you are taking certain types of medication.
Some chemicals used in household products (such as glues) are also ototoxic. Quinine (used in tonic water) is in the list. Lead is also ototoxic, as is tin. So those of us brought up doing DIY electronics before the days of lead-free solder could have had increased sensitivity to noise-induced deafness.
Ototoxicity | Vestibular Disorders Association
Scares the life out of me. I think I need a G&T...
I found that use of piracetam helps improve balance when its impaired by weekend beer drinking, in my experience. Its the most effective hangover reducer/preventative I've ever tried, too. Piracetam is also good for tinnitus according to
Piracetam research
Piracetam research
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