Kinda OT: Anybody else have Tinnitus?

They say Tinnitus affects 1 in every four people. Spent my entire career of over 40 years in aviation around jet aircraft. Many times I didn't use proper ear protection and fully expected to have some hearing loss in my later years. About 4 months ago I started experiencing Tinnitus in my left ear. At first the noise, dizzyness and vertigo was extremely debilitating. A few times it dissipated for up to a few days or a week or so but eventually it came back. I bought one of those small machines that makes sounds of waves, rain, running water or just white noise which seemed to help me sleep. As time goes on I'm dealing with it a lot better but it sure is a PITA. You'd think that in this day and age of medical break throughs someone would come up with a Tinnitus cure.

Gary

 

The other three couldn't hear the question.

 

I went to bed with a head cold 10 years ago on a Friday, woke with an ear infection and a serious case of the dizzies (not a distributor reference). Deaf by Monday in that ear, hearing never to return and the most annoying tinnitus you can imagine. Auto Immune Sudden Hearing Loss. Never take an ear infection lightly. With the hearing went my balance too, didn't drive a car or ride my Harley for a year. No cure for nerve damage but I have researched just about everything on the outside chance someone might make something to help.

Apple is developing ear buds (like the new Bluetooth ones that come with the new model iphone) that work to reduce the effects of tinnitus. Each ear bud has a microphone as well as speaker so if you whisper in the deaf ear you would hear it in the good ear. At the same time the buds produce a white noise that you cannot hardly detect. The thought process is that tinnitus is produced by the nervous system to compensate for the hearing loss, so the noise the buds create replace the need for the tinnitus your brain is creating. Plus you can listen to music, talk on the phone, etc.

Apple's wearable bio technology might make having tinnitus and hearing loss easier to deal with but it is a crutch not a cure.

 

I'm 81 and can't remember when I DIDN'T have tinnitus! Working in oil fields, canning plants, auto assembly lines, machine shops, and aircraft repair. Add in driving race cars on dirt tracks and drag strips, loud music, and shooting and it's a wonder I can hear anything at all
But most of the time I don't notice it, and the accompanying hearing loss is much more aggravating.

 

Add me to the list. Started last year.......can't figure out what key the ringing is in?

 

Yes, it started when I was in the Navy and I've had it for over 25 years. Constant high-pitched tone in both ears. It's pretty loud but I've had it so long it is usually like white noise. I don't usually think about it unless I think about it.

 

In 1965 ,I went out shooting with my pistol, no hearing protection, fired 150 or so rounds. My ears where ringing very loud, couldn’t hardly sleep that night, but was looking forward to the next day, when the ringing would stop..... that day never came. My ears are still ringing as I type this post, just as loud as that day in 1965. Have 50% loss in both ears due to the ringing. Been dealing with it for 53 years. Tried to find a solution for ringing, but soon found out there is none. My Mom still tells me about “cures”, but they never work.
When my son reached shooting age, he was not allowed to shoot anything without hearing protection. Today he has perfect hearing.....I get some things right.


Bones

 

Yup 63 and way over half of that with no ear protection, what a fool I’ve been

 

I do try to save the hearing I have left, earplugs, muffs, etc.

I have a 357 right here on my shelf. But if a home invader came in here tonight I might be afraid to shoot him cause of the noise.

 

I'm pretty sure mine started when they brought me back from the Mother ship

 

I guess I've been lucky, so far.
I'm 39, and have worked as a CNC programmer/Machinist, for 15+ years.
Current shop, luckily, isn't overly loud.
I try to remember to wear my ear plugs, when using my DA sander, or air nozzle, but not often enough.
Mine is extremely sporadic.
It will start softly in one ear, progressing to loud in 10-15 seconds, last for 10-30 seconds, then fade away.
I'm sure it will only get worse.

 

4 years ago I had an incident while working.I was lying on my side on the shop floor welding an excavator track frame with my large sized flux core mig welder when a small piece of molten metal (welt spatter )managed to find its way into my left ear resulting in a hole being burnt thru my left ear drum.The result of this was surgery being required to repair this hole with it being cauterized.My ear was sliced around the back,folded forward allowing access with a patch of tissue grafted over it to repair then reattaching the ear back into place with a few sutures (don't remember the surgical name of this procedure but kinda like a skin graft).Since then I have had tinnitus & partial hearing loss in my left ear which I have learned to live with This ear also gets regularly blocked by a build up of ear wax which I have learned to maintain by putting a couple of drops of olive oil into it 2-3 times a week making the build up a bit more fluid and easier for it to work its way out .I am very carefull with the remaining hearing I have(right ear still works well)and always wear protection when in a noisy environment.Since this incident I have come across another person whom has had similar occurrence when welding an exhaust system -it seems that my surgery was more successfull than his was(he also had the ear blocking issue,told him of the oil additive to help with this but haven't seen him on an event since so don't know if this procedurs worked for him.Just another Hazard to be aware of when using your workshop equipment.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X304F using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

If your aim is good I don't think you need be worried about his hearing loss from the shot.

 

I’m 70, and have had it for about 5 years now. All my hearing tests are OK, just a 5% reduction in some higher notes. I suffered vertigo real strongly about 15 years ago. Got that settled fairly quick by the laying on a bed and rolling your head side to side.
I too have raced go karts, motorcycles, and flew Model airplanes, all without a hint of mufflers. Did an apprenticeship and have worked as a boilermaker fabricator since I was 15, and add in a year or so of Army service, but, the “experts” say it may not be any of those things that cause it.
It is annoying at times, gets real loud, but if I am working on a car or building something in my workshop, I don’t notice it!
Rant over.

 

I have it, probably going on 15 years. Also have hearing loss, moderate to severe across most frequencies, some profound loss in certain high and low frequencies .My audiologist told me that when you loose the input the brain still looks for them and failing to find them, fills them with the rings, pops, chatter, whistles, chirps, whooshes, and buzz to satisfy it's input needs. I even get Doppler shift siren that starts in one ear and seems to travel through my head to finish with a different tone in the other. The audiologist recommended hearing aids and after about fiver years finally got them. I got them from Costco for about half the price of those from the audiologist. They have a three year guarantee, and includes follow up hearing tests, fitting programing and annual tune ups or more if needed initially to get them sorted. I will say that with them in a lot of the tinnitus goes away or moderates.

I apologize if this has been covered but I will admit to not reading every response. I hope the info might help one's quality of life.

 

^^Yes it's helpful. I have put off buying hearing aids. A friend got new ones and I tried her old ones, not cheapos but of course not fitted for me. Didn't care for them, everything sounded abnormal, can't explain it really, like everyone was talking through a microphone. Tap one to raise volume, other to lower, kinda finicky. And then batteries every few days. As I mentioned, the ringing doesn't bother me anymore, just tired of saying What? What? Or smiling and nodding like you heard what they said.

 

I flew fighters for ten years, and commercial aviation for another 30. I always wore ear protection, but I did develop mild, sporadic, tinnitus in the mid 90s. The tinnitus could have also been aggravated by the red cell leukemia I got diagnosed with in 1988, but in any case it has continued to get progressively worse. This is because I have never been in remission, and the drugs I have had to use to keep the cancer in control have not been particularly friendly.
I retired in 2000, but that did not stop the progression of the tinnitus.
One thing it is important to know, is that Aspirin aggravates the tinnitus.
I had a friend who had it bad enough in the mid 90s, that he spent over $10,000 on devices that were supposed to alleviate the problem (about $3000 on a machine that was supposed to cancel the ringing by sending a noise cancelling sound wave to match and cancel the ringing ). It was only minimally effective in his case. He complained to the doctors that it got so bad at times that he thought of offing himself.
Mine is so bad that it effects my hearing, however it does not seem to affect my balance. Maybe it is because I am so used to it. I do find that wearing earphones or ear plugs for any amount of time, causes the ringing to get much worse.
I often wonder how many of the clowns that had the beat boxes installed in their cars that you could hear for 1/2 mile away, are regretting that particular decision.
Yeah, getting old and still composing isn't necessarily easy, but it still beats the crap out of decomposing.
Bob

 

Got it too..... Shooting as a kid, rock concerts, and air tools for a long time...... Now, it's too late. I wear my ear buds at work=music, to drown out the drama, but I'm just injecting things, and making it worse. Hearing test yesterday....... The tester comes over the speaker in my headphones, and asks if I can hear him.... Sure thing bud, loud and clear.... But- I have to turn my head side to side to hear. Straight on is almost a silence. The secratary's at work get pissed when they have to talk to me, as I'm always saying what?

 

I've got it and mine is definitely mostly due to damage from loud noises. I can describe it being like having a tree full of horny cicadas sing for a love connection, maybe not right next to me but nearby in the next room. My mind will usually block out my awareness of it unless something reminds me. When I first wake up in the morning is when I'm most conscious of it and naturally, also when I'm in a quiet place. I've come to note that some people annunciate words clearly and others don't; young people are especially bad. I've re-discovered that old movies from the 40s, +/- a decade, are a relief to watch because actors back then had trained speaking voices and would speak so much clearer than the mush these days. I also enjoy radio because, again, they actually speak professionally and give you the entire word, not just grunt the vowels while underplaying the softer, consonants.

I did "free trials" of hearing aids twice. Once I was sort of impressed, once not so much. But I'm just not ready to pay $6,000 for something that has to be replaced every 3 years. Plus they tell me that "in the ear" devices won't do it for me. I have to have a couple of refrigerators hanging off my ears.

 

My ears buzz like a nympho maniac's dresser drawer. I've had it since age 18. like most of you drag strips, air tools, concerts, firearms and a whole host of other things caused it. I just try to never be anyplace that is too quiet and it does not bother me too much. I just learned to live with it. Yea, I have hearing loss also.


Denny

 

DAMN! The way it sounds, you guys are in a bad way. I thought I had problems with mine, but I equate mine to a loud, white noise machine. Only in the last two years has it taken on a steady, tonal quality.
Like yourselves, loud hobbies like dirt riding on a buzz saw Yamaha enduro, shooting sports, drag racing, weekend warrior military, etc. But the first nine years, of 21 years, in an industrial facility, not wearing hearing protection, is what really brought it to my attention.

Now, I've developed what's called "Meniere's disease", (don'tcha love how the medical field tosses that word "disease" around?), that is an inner ear malady that throws off your balance, with a bout of bad nausea to go along with it. Not even Mayo clinic really knows what's going on, but it's believed to be fluid movement in and out of the inner ear.
The treatment is a low sodium diet, and a diuretic to keep your body from building up excess water. I thought my doctor was trying to starve me to death during the first week of that low sodium diet.
(I did find out that dark chocolate has zero sodium. I CAN STILL EAT CHOCOLATE!)
In any case, the treatment seems to work. It's been almost a year since my last incident.

Roger

 

I was at a range maybe back in 1979 shooting a .22 rifle and some guy shows up with a .357 Magnum, that was loud and of course he asks me and my girlfriend if we wanted to try it. I was deaf the next day or so. Now at the range, I wear shooter-grade ear plugs and a 27 dB set of ear muffs. 12-gauge slugs through a short Mossberg gets everyone's attention on the firing line.

A good friend of mine is a certified NRA instructor and he says for home defense, a 20-gauge shotgun is easier on the ears than a 12-gauge. You definitely need to hear if you need to make that 2nd or 3rd shot. I have a pair of ear plugs on a cord hanging from the closet door knob if that day comes.

 

Played guitar in rock bands since the early '70s, mixed loud music on large sound systems since the mid '70s, fell back in love with drag racing eight years ago and my daughter and I run a 7.90 junior dragster. Yeah... I have tinnitus. The crazy part is that I make my living running audio for corporate events.

 

Add me to the list, constant buzzing but little hearing loss that I know of.

 

Each contributer here, most valued thread.
Protect your 'tools'!

 

I'm in. Name any activity you can think of contributing to tinnitus & hearing loss, and chances are I've done it, most likely in spades. Industrial, motorsports, music, hunting/shooting, etc, all in excess and then some. It's a freakin' miracle I have any hearing left at all. Learned to live with the tinnitus which became noticeable probably 20yrs ago, mid 40s. Two things I preach to the younger folks. Eye & hearing protection. Do it. Period. I'm proof what happens when you don't take this shit seriously. Coincidentally, we were in a crowded restaurant last night, party of 7. That's when the hearing loss really raises it's ugly head. Couldn't hear shit, just smiled & nodded my head a lot. Painful, and sometimes dangerous when you're not sure what the conversation's about....

 

Me too... Can't remember when I didn't have it. 45 yrs in a power plant with the begining not much protection. Loud music at concerts and some car racing didn't help but work was the cause for sure. I have 20 yrs of hearing tests which show the exact frequency ( just happens to be the same as my wife's voice). Many I worked with are in the same boat. I'm 74 now.