Tinnitus

LegacyUser

I've gotten tinnitus (ear ringing/buzzing) from listening to loud music over the years.
It can be annoying when i'm in a quiet environment, but i'll have to just learn to ignore it.

Anyway was wondering if anyone else on boards has tinnitus?

smiles

My sister suffered badly from it, from being on strong medication for prolonged amounts of time, she finally went to a hypnotist and is now able to ignore it as background noise and not annoying.

<< Fio >>

The_Bullman

Yeah, I have it.

It's most annoying when trying to get to sleep.

And I've never gone and got it seen to. I was thinking of starting a thread myself only it's probably too medical for here.

I'd love to hear.. if anyone has had this problem and gotten it properly solved. I can ignore it myself but it's just annoying to have to do that.

DMT

There's some helpful information about Tinnitus at this link

comet

Got a bad blast of it last year after too many loud gigs. I used ear plugs at loud gigs after that and thankfully it has died away over the months. It can be desperatly annoying, people just don't seem to be aware that your hearing can be seriously damaged going to loud clubs/gigs. If you have had temporary ringing in your ears even for a day or two, its an early warning sign for the damage being done to you. I wonder will we see the government crack down on sound levels in the future.
These are the ear plugs I use when things get very loud -
ear plugs

j0e9o

yeah for a long while there i worked in a niteclub as a barman and noticed my ears ringing the day after but then the amount of time my ears where ringing kept gettin longer so i called it a day after 3 months my ears are fine

Capt'n Midnight

I really hate it when it's too loud and distorted - what is the point in getting several grands worth of gear and having some muppet change the volume from 7 (loud but undistorted) to 10 distortion and speakers blarring by being overdriven - ya might as well use a pub pa system.

DadaKopf

I've had tinnitus since I was 13 (am 23 now). I got it when I went to a gig and it's stayed with me since.

I've read a lot about it and there are competing opinions. Some evidence shows that prolonged exposure to loud noises causes damage to the hairs in the cochlea that, when they try to grow back end up fusing with other hairs and this interference causes tinnitus.

Other theories suggest that it's the brain that just can't turn the noise that naturally occurs in the auditory nerves on ignore. Normally, the brain filters out anything unimportant but after loud noises, sometimes the brain cannot switch this off. It's in cases like this that hypnotherapy can help.

In my case, I put up with it for years (it's always remained at the same, low level - sounding like the high pitch you get off a television) but got worried when it got worse after a concert in the RDS. I got them checked by a specialist; my hearing was and still is perfect. The specialist said if your hearing is perfect, that means no damage has been done and the noise is in your head.

Since then I stopped worrying about it and now it doesn't bother me, even when it's perfectly silent.

Mossy Monk

dont know if it is Tinnitus i have but the symptoms are the very same. i have it since i was about 13 or 14. it is really annoying but i'll live

deimos

could be worse, a relation had gaze tinnitus, she only got it when she moved her eyes, it came on her in her late 70's.... she nearly went insane with it........



VS Ramachandran, a neurologist done some work on the tinnitus thing, apperently lots of different forms of it are caused by brain damage to a specific area of the brain stem or damage to the auditory nerve. When the selected area begins to fail to receive "sound data" in the brain stem its neurons(axons+dentrites) expand out into surrounding terratory of the brain (eg, breathing area's, movement area and alike) so it receives a more frequent stimulation but the problem is that it is not receiving the right data, just random junk which can only be interpeted as noise.

He was describing also some really whackey ways of fixing it by using some t.m.s devices and the like, i dont know how that worked out for him but his stuff could be worth a look, he had a good book called "Phantoms of the brain" as far as I can remember...

Shamo

Ah no point in hoping for a cure, better off accepting it and getting on with your life.
By the way is there any wireless headphones out there. Like you put a watch battery in the headphones?

I was the original poster, dunno why i went unreg. Anyway it's pretty annoying when i'm on my own thinking about it. It's best to listen to music on heaphones or just look at T.V in my experience.

rat_race

Theres lots of causes for tinnitus. An audiologist has no right to say it's in your head, or not there. Tinnitus can occur with no hearing loss. I play drums, and have no hearing loss, yet I have tinnitus. I've only had it constantly for the last 3 months. It was so sudden tho, I believe it's from something else. Everything from non-prescription drugs, to wisdom teeth, to bad backs, poor posture, sore jaws etc etc can cause it. I even read one case where a guy damaged his knee, which had a nerve that was connected to his neck, and this caused tinnitus!

hedgetrimmer

A mate of mine had it pretty badly, he went to the doctor, went on a course of tablets for a few months, and it went away!

He has to watch himself at loud gigs (like wear ear pulgs). bu aside from that, is all fine and dandy

Capt'n Midnight

IIRC in some cases it can also be caused by your brain filling in silence - if it's too quiet - so in some cases a little white noise (fm radio off station) might possibly help. (then again it might not.)

jd

Originally posted by RingingEar
I've gotten tinnitus (ear ringing/buzzing) from listening to loud music over the years.
It can be annoying when i'm in a quiet environment, but i'll have to just learn to ignore it.

Anyway was wondering if anyone else on boards has tinnitus?

I suffer from it (and recurrent vertigo as well). Have you seen your doctor?
Mine is caused either by too much exposure to loud music at college etc, or viral damage to the inner ear.
I'd advise you to go to your doctor if you haven't seen him/her already.
Things that may help (or help me!)-limit your alcohol consumption and drink enough fluids.
I also have a presciption for the dizziness,which I take when I have a bad attack..
My hearing is pretty bad in one ear-which can make it awkward in social situation with a group-I have to turn my head towards whoever is speaking (no-I'm not ignoring you..:))

Shamo

Originally posted by jd
I suffer from it (and recurrent vertigo as well). Have you seen your doctor?
Mine is caused either by too much exposure to loud music at college etc, or viral damage to the inner ear.
I'd advise you to go to your doctor if you haven't seen him/her already.
Things that may help (or help me!)-limit your alcohol consumption and drink enough fluids.
I also have a presciption for the dizziness-(stemetil) which I take when I have a bad attack..
My hearing is pretty bad in one ear-which can make it awkward in social situation with a group-I have to turn my head towards whoever is speaking (no-I'm not ignoring you..:))

Haven't been to the doctor yet, will go within the next month though.
I do think it's from loud music but maybe the doctor might suggest someting else.
It's going to be pretty loud over april due to exam stress!

jd

Originally posted by Shamo
Haven't been to the doctor yet, will go within the next month though.
I do think it's from loud music but maybe the doctor might suggest someting else.
It's going to be pretty loud over april due to exam stress!

Go to the doctor, esp if you get dizziness!!

rat_race

If you're dizzy, your tinnitus is more likely from a TMJ disorder(google it), or maybe Menieres Disease....both curable...

I'm not expert, but from my/my friends experience with doctors in the past, they prove themselves inconsistent and un-reliable. One doctor will say 'white' while the other will say 'black'..A lot of what they advise is just their opinion...remember, they're not experts at anything. Go and see and ear, nose and throat doctor...but I'd even be quick to trust them.

I went to a dentist AND an audiologist...And im sorry i told them I'm a drummer...cos there's no way they can see any other possibility for my tinnitus. Its easier for them to say, well, you got incurable permanent tinnitus, rather than to try to help. I researched a lot, and found out I aggravate my tinnitus by grinding my teeth in my sleep. Wearing a splint at night should reduce it within months. Google this stuff!

jd

Originally posted by rat_race
If you're dizzy, your tinnitus ...or maybe Menieres Disease....both curable...

I wouldn't be too keen on the "cure" for Menieres Disease.
The visit to the doctor is a good idea, as he can determine whether a referral to an ENT consultant is necessary (who may decide on an MRI- scrrening for acosutic neuromas and other tumours)

LadyPenelope

Amazed to see that so many people have it. I dont personally know many with tinnitus.

Have it myself about ten years. It started after I visited a chiropractor (but took me years to work out that was how it started).

My hearing is fine. I have been to specialists in two different countries, ENT guys, Harley Street, had MRI scan, gum shields for grinding teeth, face x-rays, hearing tests, acupuncture, more chiropractors, the works.

It is worst for me after I have been somewhere loud, naturally, and the next day the dizziness can be so bad I cant get out of bed, cause I cant walk. As someone said earlier on in thread, all the docs say different things, but the bottom line from anyone I have seen is, there is no cure.

I have learned to live with it, so far in the ten years since it started, it has stopped twice for about 30 seconds each time, it was bliss. Oh yea, if I get really stressed it gets worse and sometimes my ears actually hurt.

Does anyone else get the clicking jaw thing also?

Lady P

rat_race

Tinnitus which isn't caused by noise exposure usually isn't caused by damaged nerve hair's in the ears, and is therefore, curable, in some way. Yes I get the jaw click..and i wear a splint at night, to stop myself grinding. Whether there is a link between this and my tinnitus, i dont know for certain, but its proven that for a lot of people it is linked. Your jaw goes right up to ur ear..if it goes out of alignment, other muscles, ie. neck muscles will push etc, to compensate. You ever get sore back, neck, or pressure around eyes etc? Somedays, everything i swallow or yawn, my ears will click...I wish i was certain that i had permanent tinnitus, because then i wouldnt bother doing anything about it. I can't trust doctors here, because they're all ****nuts. anyway...

Shamo

Everytime i swollow or yawn my ears click, doesn't bother me though as i've got used to it. My ears used to actually get sore when I was eating sometimes too but that hasn't happened for a while.

comet

Originally posted by Shamo
Everytime i swollow or yawn my ears click, doesn't bother me though as i've got used to it. My ears used to actually get sore when I was eating sometimes too but that hasn't happened for a while.

Thats not your ears, sounds to me like you've got TMJ - a jaw problem


When the smoking ban settles in and is a success and a few years down the line I wonder will we see the government step in to protect peoples hearing and monitor and enforce audio levels in pubs and clubs. Its coming, bar staff will sue for deafness....

Shamo

Originally posted by comet
Thats not your ears, sounds to me like you've got TMJ - a jaw problem


When the smoking ban settles in and is a success and a few years down the line I wonder will we see the government step in to protect peoples hearing and monitor and enforce audio levels in pubs and clubs. Its coming, bar staff will sue for deafness....

Is there any definite cures for TMJ?

Also, when I clench down on my teeth my tinnitus gets louder.

comet

popping, clicking of the jaws sounds like TMJ to me, you can look up the symptoms and see if you think thats the problem. There are a number of exercises you can use to alleviate the symptoms.
With regard to tinnitus you can only hope it will fade with time

Shamo

Well TMJ can cause tinnitus.

http://www.michigan-headache-tmj-doctor.com/tinnitus_tmj.html

comet

Ah another case solved, Shamo my consultancy fee is 210 euro !! call again

Shamo

Originally posted by comet
Ah another case solved, Shamo my consultancy fee is 210 euro !! call again

Yeh, err i'll send it to you... soon..