That's ringing in the ears. It has many causes and no real cure. Just a few formulas that can bring relief to some of us. I've had it ever since I tried to help another band fix their monitors while they were playing a song - huh? That's right, ringing ever since.

My wife showed me this website, used by a co-worker, who says she found some relief from the pills. FWIW... http://wholehealthproducts.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=88

I have had tinnitus for about 20 years now.
It is getting worse unfortunately.
I 'collected' mine when demonstrating security alarms which gave out 114 dBa every time I switched the damn thing on.
Hearing is so precious to lovers of music and musicians, so if anyone is reading this, take great care of your hearing.
Incidentally, I saw an interview a while ago with Engelbert Humperdinck, who also has tinnitus and said that he has at time contemplated"ending it all"!!
Thanks for the link I will read it .

------------------
Eddie from Rotherham
Skype:eddiefromrotherham
www.yamahakeyboards.info

It is thought that perhaps Vincent Van Gogh probably had tinnitus. And that that is why he cut his ear off. Hmmmmmmm, wonder if it helped.

I have had tinnitus for sometime. I also take an aspirin a day as a blood thinner. I'm thinking this probably has some effect on it.

But who knows for sure when it really happens. Cassp, I'm surprised to hear that it seems that you can really relate this to one incident. That must have been some real loud music. I think for most it's how loud for how long and how many repitions.

I remember shooting guns. One of the last time I was testing out my 25 caliber automatic pistol, my hearing actually went down, it sounded like I was under water, and my ears really were singing then, but it went away shortly after.

I also remember listening to a local rock band that was really pretty good, but talk about loud. They were so loud that if you stood in front of their speakers, I actually could feel pain in my ears. I didn't stand there long I'll tell ya.

I wonder how the lead guitar player is doing from the rock band I was in in the '60's. That was when everyone had to have speaker cabinets as big as refrigerators.

He had the biggest Fender. He might have had two of them stacked on top of each other. But, what I do remember was on one song he used to kneel down on the floor and put his guitar pickup right in front of the lower speaker so he could get feedback like the rockers liked to do then. His ear was then right next to the speaker above it and he'd do this for quite a period of time. One of those long jam tunes. Every time we did this tune we had to take a break, he'd then go outside because it gave him the dry heaves. Fun stuff huh? Eeeeeeeekkk!


[This message has been edited by Scott Langholff (edited 08-08-2007).]

Have had the problem for over 30 years. Grew up on Air Force bases; usually, our home was at the end of the flight line. Playing at high volumes didn't help either. Mine is irritating but not debilitating.

R.

[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 08-08-2007).]

I've had it since age 17 when I was a first loader on a 3-inch 50 anti-aircraft gun while serving aboard the U.S.S. Newport News. The fun fired 120 rounds a minute from two barrels, the explosion was deafening, and back then there was no hearing protection available. After an hour or two of shooting at drones and sleeves you couldn't hear the mount captain yelling at you. At sick bay they said "Don't worry, your hearing will come back in a couple days." which it did. But the ringing has been there ever since and gets worse as you get older. There's no cure, and in my experience, no relief, even after trying some of the medications. It just keeps on ringing, but at this stage of life, it doesn't bother me nearly as much. Maybe I've just reached the point where I don't care.

Cheers,

Gary

I've got some light ringing already. I think one of the reasons is from years of standing in front of a full Marshall stack. I may have been shredding the guitar, but didn't pay too much attention to the shredding that was being done to my ears! My ears would ring for hours after playing, but I was young and shrugged it off.

I made the mistake of going out shooting a month or two ago, and didn't wear ear protection (forgot to bring it). After pumping 300+ rounds through a Winchester 7mm, a vintage 50's model .30-06, and a 9mm pistol my ears rang for over a week! I think most of the ringing came from the Winchester 7mm. Something about that rifle man.., that thing sounds like a freakin cannon!!!!!

Squeak



[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 08-08-2007).]

This topic came up a while ago and here's a site with lots of information on the subject. It's specifically for musicians (see, we knew we were different ). http://www.musiciansclinics.com/articlesfrm.asp

Light ringing here too. I have had it for 6 years now, and I even get weird nightmares where it's involved: My mission was to keep the tinnitus as low as possible via meditation, but it didn't work, did it? so instead I found myself concentrating even more on the tinnitus which made it louder and louder, then I woke up. :S

It's pretty common. Mine isn't too bad, worse at night when there are no other noises. I've heard diet can have an effect. Sodium, for example, is supposed to make tinnitus temporarily worse. I'm no health food freak, but mine seems to have gotten better when I began eating a more balance diet.


------------------
Kelly J

I've had mine for about 2 months now and it's a great PAIN in the ASS or head....when I first noticed it, I thought that it was a fan that needed oil .....I checked around and couldn't find the cause of the "squeaking" I looked for days...turning off the a/c and equip in the restaurant looking for this squeaking sound...
I finally turned off the main power and then I realize that the damed squeaking kept fallowing me around, then I knew it wasn't in the equip, it was in my head.....went to the doc and he said that diet will help greatly..
and to lose the COFFEE ....I started a similar thread on smallgig.com and now know that quite a few of us in this business have it...IT AIN'T GOIN AWAY, IT'S HERE TO STAY.
TR http://www.smallgig.com/forums/showthread.php?t=521

back in 1950 I was on the CVA Hancock, then the Shangrila then the Essex. I have a db floor of about 40 maybe more so I am not hearing real well anymore.
I also now have 60 % capacity left in my lungs and this is no doubt from breathing the asbestos in my bunk every night. There is a big class action going on about this, but collecting anything from the Gov will take a lot longer then I will be around
Bebop

I've had it lightly for about ten years and I'm 27. I only notice it in the relative quiet. Does it get worse?

Excerpt from:
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/understanding-tinnitus-basics

Tinnitus can worsen in some people if they drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, drink caffeinated beverages or eat certain foods. For reasons not yet entirely clear to researchers, stress and fatigue seems to worsen tinnitus.

And...Certain drugs -- most notably aspirin, several types of antibiotics and quinine medications -- can contribute to the condition as well. In fact, tinnitus is cited as a potential side effect for about 200 prescription and nonprescription drugs.

Taike