Today I got the bad news and I need your suggestions maybe comforting words. The ringing noise at my right ear canal is killing me. I will go to another doctor in my hometown and see what he’s going to say.
I usually can’t sleep without listening to music from my iPod. Although yesterday night I’ve listened only half-volume (soft techno tunes) today the ringings goes berserk. I’m using in-ear headphones (seenheisser cx300). Does that mean I have to get rid of them?
Even though I did good in the hearing exam problems I have a huge fear losing my hearing (or partially)
I was producing from studio headphones, from now on I guess I gotta stick to the monitors, to ease up the pressure to my ear?
I had a foam ear plug (-33 db), I tried it it sounded ok with my headphones. Should I drain my bank account to get a custom-molded IEM or should I go with ear-plugs + headphones during upcoming gigs? Is getting a custom-molded IEMs are good investment?
they take a bit of getting use too. the first few monthinto my residancy, and i was going home and my ears where ringing for hours on end. i play 3-4 times a week, not including the time i spend mixing at home, so i decieded to try these out as they fairly cheap, and they have great reviews.
i can honestly say my ears have never rung since…best few £’s i have ever spent.
Thank you man I hope so but honestly I don’t expect it to go away. But yeah positive thinking.
Yeah I’ve seen that plugs couple of times here in the forum I don’t know why the brand is not popular here in Vienna. I guess my ear canal is a bit smaller than average (don’t know for sure but) so it would be much better to look at it rather than buying it from Amazon.
One thing i didn’t get though is at the product features it says the noise reduction is -12 but at the product description -20. Which one is true? I’m guessing -12 is not enough for some cases.
Custom molded earplugs are amazing. I was lucky enough to get a free pair as part of my old job about 2 years back and they’ve probably got another 2-3 years left in them if I look after them. Having said this they are only about £170 / $300 a pair, which over the course of five years is pretty cheap when you consider it can save your hearing - even if you have already developed temporary threshold shift.
Can’t recommend them highly enough, especially as they have interchangeable filters - mind currently have -15dB filters in them and I even use them when I DJ out - the best thing about them is they don’t isolate frequencies, they just turn down the volume. I think start at -9db and go up to -25dB.
I’d say: watch out with any type of headphones/earplugs for listening music. They fatigue and damage your ears sooner than you’d expect.
And let your ears rest now. Don’t go to any parties whatsoever for some weeks, and only listen music by earphones on a very low volume. The ringing may die down a bit then over a while. On the longer run, how hard it may be, you’ll get used to it. Sort of.
I know the feeling bro. I have tinnitus as well, in both ears. Have it for over 3 years now. At all of the bigger parties/festivals I went to since it began, it got worse, whatever kind of earplugs I wore. I have custom made earplugs, but I don’t trust them anymore. Basically, I just totally renounced attending any other festival in my life just for not damaging my hearing any further.
Thanks for your great wishes. I had to take a break from production to rest my ears a bit, at least until I consult to another doctor. This is awful since I was fully concentrated on it.
I’m in the same boat as you bro, got a specialist checking out my ears next week. 3 years now it’s killing me. wish you all the best dude, your not alone.
I’ve had it for years now destroy my ears over a period of years playing in Death/trash Metal bands. It’s not boddering me anymore as I’ve got used to it. Sometimes when it really quiet around me it can start to anoy me again.
Your brain will eventyaly filter it out as it trains to listen to things that matter. Most people that have eaiconditions installed will after a time not hear them running as it becomes background noise you like Tinnitus will over time.
The standard advice is to “cover” the ringing with more noise. I tried that, but over time I found it to be more disruptive to sleeping than the ringing. After a lot of searching, I stated using some meditation techniques to clear my mind and actively “ignore” the noise. The “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction” describes the technique. I heard about it on an NRP about a year ago…
The custom molded plugs are worth the $$$. I went to my local audiologist to have mine fitted. It was the same price as getting the home kit. I can wear them under headphones, and just turn up the monitor volume a little. I use the 15dB filters.
The different noise reduction ratings are “normal.” The ISO standard for NRR uses the A-weighted curve, this is the -12dB rating. The -20dB rating comes from an unweighted curve that is more appropriate for music, but not “standard” for purposes of advertising.
Yes indeed, all those affected have my sincere sympathy, not nice at all. It’s bad enough with temporary ringing but can’t imagine it being permanent. I’ve had a couple of ‘scares’ over the years but thankfully after a few days the ringing has cleared. Wish you all the best OP. Cheers.
Any loud noise, especially for a long duration: motorcycle riding (wind is the worst), subway stations, driving a tractor, in-ear plug-ins with loud music 4+ hours a day and so on…
You could also get tinnitus from unexpected sources like eating too much Ibuprofen and similar NSAIDs (what I found out a month ago, ack.), as a side effect from allergies, naturally born thin ear canals, high blood pressure, too much of milk products, too much of natural sweeteners like aspartame (Nutrasweet et rest..) and other unexpected sources. In this later part, let the body heal and stay away from such products and there’s a good chance tinnitus will go away.
As for hearing loss tinnitus, that today incurable, only thing I know of is to learn to live with as most rock musicians have learned the hard way. In the early days you could just try to avoid loud noises to let the ears relax and that might solve the problem, but if you then continue with loud noises again, the effect will accelerate on top of earlier damage.
As a musician and/or DJ, the ears are our main instruments so we better take care of them. It’s a no brainer to use musician earplugs or otherwise not use loud volumes in studio if that’s not needed.
After going to a Skrillex afterparty (where he had the good idea to put a DJM style super high pass filter full of resonance on Ruffneck) i had a tinnitus in my left ear (closest to the speakers).
It lasted for 3 weeks, and now it’s gone.
When I think about it/talk about it, i feel that my damaged ear is different from the other one. I’m not sure if it’s real, mechanical, or psychological. But I don’t have any ringing beep, or maybe a super low one that does not prevent me from living my normal life, sleeping etc.
I hope it’s reassuring. Next time don’t forget custom-made earplugs.
Just didn’t think it was loud enough to cause it! Always wondered why they sold ear plugs for motorbiking but just put it down to a comfort level thing for engine noise.
I’ve never worn ear plugs whilst listening to music out, I imagine it’s not as enjoyable? Obviously worth it though.
I’d definitely wear them if I was DJing out.
Some motorcycle helmets, very very high end, takes down some of the wind noise but in general if you drive 80mph on Highway 5 the noise level is pretty bad…
@backtothefront thank you man I also had those “scares” a lot of time but the problem was I didn’t know that they can be permanent. Wish I knew it before
@KS2 I didn’t get it from my headphones but after the diagnosis I don’2t know if it’s psychological or what but the ringing have increased just for listening to music even half-volume.
@dope thanks man that’s really reassuring now I’m taking the medicals that the doctor gave me relax my ears hopefully it will be gone or decrease in time
My dad was a drummer and he has tinnitus. When I told him that I wanted to be a DJ the first thing he said is that tomorrow I’m buying you earplugs and after reading some of the horror story’s of tinnitus I am so thankful that he has bought them for me.