ears...

[Guest akanalog]

anyone here have this happen to them...

i am in a band and we play relatively loud. doesn't seem to bother anyone else but i know one guy in the band doesn't hear as well as he could-though he has been playing for a long time.

i try to be responsible though-don't see too much live music, always keep the walkman at a lower volume than my peers.

however a bandmate and i went to a small performance after practice and it was freakin' loud. he didn't seem to be bothered and no one else seemed to be bothered either-like 3 percent of the crowds was earplugged, but i was thinking it was loud-not louder than other things i have been to ear-plug less, as i was here, but pretty loud.

i would like to emphasize there were people having conversations right in front of me and i was standing next to my friend who was fine, but i thought it was loud so i seemed particulalry affected.

my ears were killing me when i left the place and i couldn't really sleep that night. my girlfriend had never seen me so miserable.

i must also emphasize this was nowhere near the loudest event i have been to.

but anyway, my ears were killing me and i couldn't sleep. and now 4 nights later one of my ears is still hurting me. no buzzing or anything but it feels like i have an ear infection or something-a dull and sometimes sharper pain or like my tubes are clogged up.

i went to an ear/eye clinic yesterday and the guy said he thought i hurt my eustachean tube or canal (i forget-the eustaschen whatever) and it might take 10-14 days to feel better. he said my eustachean _ could have been traumatized by sound.

i am worried i am a bit deaf now-my hearing seems ok if a bit dull like it is blocked-the doc did mention something about my tubes being blocked as he said i should be squirting afrin up my nose. but my hearing is also sensitive-it is weird-it is dull but it also hurts a lot and i haven't listened to music since then and loud conversation hurts. i guess my hearing is OK, actually-based on my own unoffical tests.

has anyone been in a situation like this? it was like some particular sound wave got into my ear in a certain way-like a bad timing kind of thing since i seemed to be particularly affected (i do have sensitive hearing or sensitivity to loud volumes, at least)

i am also worried because i need to get on an airlplane tuesday morning and even though the guy at the clinic gave me the thumbs up i don't want my ear to get destroyed. when i was a kid once my ear got totally messed up pressure-wise on a plane ride and hurt for days and i guess actually felt a lot like this now.

sorry this is long but i am freaked out. i value my hearing because i love music, both listening and playing, and i like to be able to communicate with my fellow men and women of the world (on occassion). anyone ever have this ever? also i went to a sketchy clinic since i don't have health insurance and the guy was an intern, not a doc. but anyway, yeah if anyone has anything to relate, thanks.

i guess once i almost went blind in one eye from a previously unknown cortisone allergy and my eye recovered, so hopefully my ear can too.

[Rooster_Ties]

Get a pair of professional musicians earplugs. They're custom made from ear molds of your own ears, so you'll have to visit an audiologist. They aren't cheap, but they're worth every penny. I've got a pair that my mom (who was an audiologist by profession) insisted that I get if I was going to really loud rock concerts. I kept putting her off for several years, but finally she got a pair for me for my birthday one year. (I think it was the year I started singing in a professional symphony chorus, sitting right behind the brass section at times -- often the French horns, which point right back at the chorus.)

A good set will probably set you back $100 (maybe closer to $150?? - maybe even $200, though I don't think they're quite THAT expensive depending on where you get them) -- but they really are worth every penny.

Mine have two separate sets of inserts, which reduce the overall sound level (volume) by either 15 dB or 25 dB. And because they attach to custom molds of your own ears, the plugs go fairly deep into your ear canal. And thus, the sound level is reduced equally across all frequencies. That's why the cheap foam plugs only cut the higher and mid-level frequencies (and not the bass). And REALLY loud bass can damage your hearing, just as much as really loud sound (at any frequency).

I wear them to almost every rock concert I go to, and even some jazz concerts where I know they'll have the house sound system turned up way too loudly (or in bigger halls). If I lost mine, I'd make it a big priority to replace them (despite the cost), since they improve the enjoyment of concerts quite a lot. I can think of two or three shows within the last year alone that were so loud, that there was no way I could have even stayed in the hall if I hadn't had the plugs. (You know, where you can feel the bass pounding your chest with every beat -- even 100 feet away from the speakers.)

I'll see if I can find some links for you, to further describe them. A good friend of my mom is still an audiologist (not yet retired), and I could give her a call if you like, and see if she can recommend a particular brand or two. My mom's friend was the person who custom fit mine about 8 or 9 years ago (my mom was already retired by that point, or would she have done them herself).

Worth their weight in gold -- at least they are to me.

Edited June 27, 2005 by Rooster_Ties

[Guest akanalog]

yeah my friends brother went to berkley and i guess they make all the students get a pair.

he was telling me about some custom ones.

well hopefully i have no permanent damage from this incident and i will never again go into a music situation unprepared.

thank you for the suggestion, RT.

[clifford_thornton]

I've got tinnitus, part hereditary and part from loud music concerts... I often wonder whether the ringing is me, or the Evan Parker I'm listening to. I mean, it's not debilitatingly bad now, and apparently I have no hearing loss, but it is disconcerting.

I'm not sure, though, that an airplane ride will really do much unless they really don't pressurize the cabin. Chew gum on take-offs and landings is about all you can do.

[Guest akanalog]

well the doctor (intern) alluded to my eustachian tube (canal?) being blocked so i think that is what can f you up on the flight-being clogged. i mean it hapened to me as a kid and i was in agony. i dont know how it works but chewing gum or whatever keeps your tubes open. that's why the doc told me to snort afrin pre-flight.

i just hope my hearing isn't comprimised. it seems ok.

did pete townsend have tinnitus just due to the exploding drum set or was it a cumulative thing?

[Chuck Nessa]

What?

[Ron S]

WHO?

[alankin]

Yes.