Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
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OT (maybe?): Tinnitus sucks
It’s starting to freak me out a little. I guess it started about 5-7 years ago but back then it was just a tiny high-pitched buzz that I barely noticed. It has never gone completely away and over the past few years has gradually gotten louder (not sure that’s the right word because tinnitius is weird). It’s not like it’s drowning out other sounds, thank God, but it is ANNOYING. Constantly!
The only time I don’t hear it is when I’m listening to music, but that’s if the music is at a decent mid-range volume, the volume of “yes, I am actually listening to this”, not really “loud” at all, but loud enough that if someone wanted to talk to me I’d need to turn it down a little. If the music is quiet background level volume I still hear it. Which is worrying me, because I’m afraid that volume level will just continue to increase over time, until at some point all that’s left is the high-pitched ringing! But it does help so I pretty much listen to music as much as I can now, which maybe isn’t a bad thing.
If any of you have tinnitus, have you found any tricks that help? How are you dealing with it? I understand there is no real “cure”, and sound/music therapy is about the only thing that helps (which is what I’m doing already). But as a musician, I guess I’m just looking for feedback from other musicians on what works for them.
Comments
Nothing but more sound does anything for me. I used to have it mildly in both ears but it has now got much louder in my left ear. Does my head in at times as I find that I used to be able to simply ignore it but now that is rarely the case
Sorry not to have more to offer.
I have it and have read an article on a sound therapy that they claim de-tunes your brain from hearing that particular sound. They describe it as kind of like mowing your lawn. When you mow your lawn, your lawn mower make a lot of noise. After a while you don't really pay attention to the mower anymore. Its not that the sound is gone it just that you don't notice it as much. I don't have any idea if it would work because if that was there theory, if one had Tinnitus, its always there and for me it varies in severity. But one would think that if it is always there like the lawnmower noise that you would soon not ever notice it. And it could be that the changing severity is because of what distracts our mind away from the sound.
What I have noticed is that when I take my annual hearing test, I notice it more. Probably because it is a very quiet room and I am concentrating on what I hear so much. But yet there are times that I don't even notice it.
yep, i've got it too. stinks! mine started around 7 years ago and fluctuates from day to day. if i'm tired, anxious or stressed it gets worse. puts me off making music quite a bit and has more or less killed my acoustic.
from what i've read it's not degenerative, but it could get worse if you can't find a way to manage it.
i was also worried about the volume of the music i listen to, whether the db was too high, so i download a noise meter on my phone to check and keep it withi a safe volume.
it's a strange thing never to be able to experience silence.
Full on in left ear mild in right. Never had a hearing test but know I've lost some top end frequency in left ear.
There is a correlation between tinnitus and the hardening/shrinkage of blood vessels. Diet and exercise that promotes reversal of said blood vessel hardening and shrinkage is about all you can do.
The quieter the surroundings the louder the ringing...
Not sure if it's tinnitus for me or something else, but over the last few years whenever I get a bad cold where my sinus' get inflamed and blocked then I can lose hearing in my left ear completely and partially in my right, apart from a ringing. The worst part is the complete loss of knowing which direction a sound is coming from....very disorienting.
About a month after the sinus' clear the hearing comes back and the ringing subsides.....It is absolutely horrible....and each time I think that I will never be able to make music properly again.....gets me really down.
When I got it checked a couple of years back they told me it was fluid in my ear drum and I just had to wait for it to subside....
I am into the third month of it in this latest occurrence....I am just at the point where I get glimpses of sound coming back so hopefully back to full hearing and therefore music making again soon.
Just one more thought....SHOULD WE ALL BE TALKING CAPS IN THIS THREAD TO MAKE SURE NONE OF US MISS ANYTHING
The harms of noise exposure noise can be lessened (and sometimes slightly reversed) if you have adequate magnesium. Most people don’t. Give it a try over a six month period to see the full effect.
I listen to brown noise nearly constantly when at home. Otherwise I go crazy, and mine’s not even very bad.
Not sure this applies in my case. Over the past year I’ve made a big change in my diet and exercise, getting as healthy as I can. I’m in better shape than I was in college and my blood pressure, heart rate, and weight are the best they’ve been in 10+ years. Didn’t help the tinnitus though.
all the stuff i've read lately states that it's a neurological condition. maybe like phantom limb syndrome- the brain is filling in the gaps. maybe b vitamins and magnesium might help.
yep, tis a real bummer
maybe it pointless me saving up for that killer analog !
Yep, mine does that. Gets really loud when I’m stressed.
I’ve only had mine since mucking about with iPad synths via earphones, my own fault really.
Whistling like mad now, but it doesn’t bother me that much - all part of getting older and falling to bits.
We all have that inner sound. You can meditate on the sound. It's quite beautiful when you pay close attention to it. Some people can gain more control over the sound through meditation.
I'm looking for something to throw at you
Yes I have it. Too many years at the club. When it first came on 7-8 years ago I freaked because I focused on it and it became worse and my anxiety went through the roof. Now I just don’t think about it. Maybe I have got used to it. But I’m never really now in a quiet spot. I have a cpap machine now when I sleep so that makes some noise to mask it, also my wife yells at me a lot so ya that helps to.
You know, that's when my tinnitus emerged. I played bass in a very loud indie-rock band for much of the 90s, touring, rehearsing and recording with only halfhearted attempts at wearing earplugs. I know I've got high-end loss in my right ear (the bass rig was stage left, and the drummer BASHED his crash and hi-hats). But it was only after discovering Gadget on my iPad a couple of years ago that it came. And it has stayed. And it fucking sucks. It's like having a cold on a beautiful summer day or a blister on a hike. Constant annoyance.
I have tinnitus too.
One thing that you need to get is a hearing aid- it is well established that they help tinnitus. If you have a hearing impairment and tinnitus- you need a hearing aid if you want to manage it.
Another thing you need to do is genuinely not care about it. Now this takes practice and a lot of careful contemplation. Once you get there it will make a huge difference. I have more tinnitus free days now than not (even when you have a tinnitus free day- you can't be letting yourself be happy about it- otherwise- you are telling yourself that you are not yet truly indifferent to it- if you see what I mean). It is not easy- but the more you obsess about it- the worse it will be- so what I have just described is about the opposite of that.
I think the idea of having some background sound can be useful- but again don't obsess about it- don't go hunting a radio down if there is not one to hand.
Good luck and stay chilled
I have it BAD, and it's been since the 80's. Pretty much self inflicted due to volume, gigs, headphones, etc. The only time I don't notice it is when my brain is totally involved in something I'm doing.
I took the tests, talked to specialists etc. At one time, I really was freaking out about it, which didn't help. I just had to accept it into my life, because I have no choice.
Yes, the lack of silence is really punishing.
Mrs Zen has tinnitus, as a result of a perforated ear-drum in younger years. She tells me it eases when I play her a set via our hi-fi. Something to do with frequencies cancelling out the inner hiss, maybe?
My big hope is that the Greatest Generation™ will be disproportionately affected by tinnitus and plough their considerable talents and self-regard into curing it.
I live in New York City. It's loud here, and I don't often notice it. But I like nature, and I'm sad thinking about summiting a mountain on a hike and just hearing the ring.
Heh. I had gotten to the point where I rarely notice it even though it's there most of the time. But reading this thread, now I'm conscious of it again. Bleh.
(Oddly I don't mind it so much even now. I guess I've come to peace with it.)
I have some, but it doesn’t really bother me. Although, I had a sinus infection that turned into an ear infecttion recently and ALL I could hear out of one ear was tinnitus. That wasn’t fun.
If anyone gets a chance take a field recorder into a club or noisy space, have a conversation with someone whilst making a recording of it, when you listen to the recording you'll realise how much filtering the brain performs. Maybe this could help calm the effects of tinnitus, as some seem to suggest, it could also exacerbate the condition too, if you're tired or stressed.
I hate my younger self for never wearing earplugs live. I said I was gonna do it for like 5 years straight then it’d get close to show time and I’d forgotten and didn’t have enough time to pick some up...it was sitcom-ish how ridiculous it got. The last show I played (maybe, potentially, forever) a couple years back, I finally got some for the show and loved em. Obviously havent played since. A happy ending!?!
I don't have it too bad (it just sounds like someone's running the tap in the other room), but it only took one show to do it. The band's house guy kept turning the volume up throughout the show and I didn't notice until I was screwed.
Normally, if I'm going to a loud show, club whatever, my trick is a ball of TP in each ear. You don't pack it in. Just place it in there loosely until it cuts the resonance. You know that disorienting jingling sound you get when it's too loud? That's the enemy. I've found the music sounds more clear with a little dampening anyway, and I don't leave with that dull feeling between the ears afterward.
And if you already have tinnitis, sorry to say you should now limit your headphone use. Headphones are like laser beams down the ear canal and will accelerate increased symptoms and eventual hearing loss. I only use them for fine tuning and final pass mastering now.
I need to measure the decibels in my headphones. Scary stuff.
yeah - headphones have been pretty much out for me. Occasional use only - too bad cause I like using them.
good thing i can’t hear your advice.
I have it :
no headphones for me ever again
I have great sympathy with this. Missus Goodyear suffers (shotguns near ears in New Hampshire etc). We live in a near-constant state of diffusing noise machines, but the notion of giving up headphones leaves (me) on the edge of BUT I'VE GIVEN UP OR STOPPED EVERYTHING ELSE!