General thread for peoples' experiences with hearing issues.

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I've been to 2 doctors now (one general practitioner, one specialist) trying to figure out why my left ear sounds like a blown speaker at certain frequencies (example: small dogs barking). Hearing test last week came back pretty positive for the most part (a little bit of higher frequency loss overall but nothing alarming). My EarPeace ear plugs seemed to bring it out worse at a moderate volume jam last week, I might need to start bringing gun muffs instead (which isn't too humiliating as a drummer but still kind of sucks). I've been on Flonase for 2 months trying to clear out any middle ear blockages that may be there but it's not helping. I dunno.. maybe it'll clear out with more time. It hasn't driven me nuts quite yet..

penningtron wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 9:24 am General thread for peoples' experiences with hearing issues.

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I've been to 2 doctors now (one general practitioner, one specialist) trying to figure out why my left ear sounds like a blown speaker at certain frequencies (example: small dogs barking). Hearing test last week came back pretty positive for the most part (a little bit of higher frequency loss overall but nothing alarming). My EarPeace ear plugs seemed to bring it out worse at a moderate volume jam last week, I might need to start bringing gun muffs instead (which isn't too humiliating as a drummer but still kind of sucks). I've been on Flonase for 2 months trying to clear out any middle ear blockages that may be there but it's not helping. I dunno.. maybe it'll clear out with more time. It hasn't driven me nuts quite yet..

You sound super calm about it, which I think is a big chunk of the battle. For me, the psychological side of it - worrying about whether I've made it worse by going to a loud gig or band practice or that moment when the drummer goes nuts before you've got your earplugs in or whatever - is the difficult side of it. When I first fucked my ears (thank you Melt Banana!) or maybe more accurately, when I first really noticed I'd damaged my hearing, it did my head in. Sleepless nights, wondering if it was going to get better, if it was worse after X or Y, if it had always been like that, and kicking myself up the arse for having read the old incarnation of this thread and not actually getting fitted earplugs. Now, I'm much more sanguine. Is it always there? Yes. Is it worse after loud stuff. Maybe. but only temporarily. Is is worse if I'm stressed or hungover? Absolutely. Is it getting worse over time? Not noticeably. But I am now super careful - am comically cautious with earplugs, have stopped giving a shit about running away from loud things with fingers in my ears, or getting band mates to be more considerate etc. I left Sunn (0)))) at the Roundhouse almost immediately, cos worrying about the volume (even with fitted plugs) was detracting from any enjoyment. It didn't felt great - I felt old and weak! - but didn't regret it afterwards.

That sucks man. Have they tried a round of steroids? If it's been this long, they probably wouldn't do anything at this point, but might be worth a shot.

I posted about this in the old forum, but I lost high end hearing in my left ear about three years ago. Just fine one minute and then POOF, tinnitus and vertigo and everything sounded shitty and muffled on my left side. The specialists I saw are pretty certain it's SSHL, which basically means they have no idea what caused it, why it happened then, etc. Definitely not noise/loud music related as my right ear is fine (and the hearing specialists have been pretty shocked how good the hearing is in that ear).

I did a round of Prednisone, which made my mood terrible at a time when I was freaked out about never playing music or seeing bands again. Those helped maybe a little, but not a huge improvement.

Eventually, my brain figured out how to recalibrate (and my vertigo went away) and now I really only notice the tinnitus when it's quiet at night (luckily we already slept with a fan on and a part of an edible before bed helps a lot), and I only notice the muffling of the sound when only my left ear is getting sound. I wear custom fit earplugs, and for my left ear I just had them put the highest cut filter in and for the most part loud practice or shows aren't an issue.

Here's how my hearing looked when it first happened:

Dudley wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 10:30 am You sound super calm about it, which I think is a big chunk of the battle.

What I have now is merely an annoyance, and I know many have it far worse. A bandmate of mine had to have his eardrum removed a year ago (stemming from a bad sinus infection). Dealing with mono sound hasn't been too bad, but the vertigo and dizziness is still there and sounds awful. He's pretty down about it, and I don't know if he's ever gonna want to play music again.

Part of it coincides with personal changes, as I have no interest in seeing or playing in crushingly loud bands anymore (neither really happening in pandemic times anyway). But I'd still like to figure out what's going on, or if there's anything that can even be done about it. Hopefully it doesn't get worse.

Damn. Yeah, anything I have going on is small potatoes by comparison. All the best to both of you.

I got in a serious car accident in March and I couldn't hear much out of my left ear (airbag).
A week later, all I could hear was low-end, then it kept improving, with a lot of ringing.
I was pretty scared since that's how I make my living. It sucked and I'm glad my hearing has improved.

I suffered hearing damage initially from work when I was around 17. It then plateaued during my 20s regardless of playing gigs etc and I didn't think it would get worse.
I work as a mechanic and have always been super careful about PPE.

Over the past 18 months I've been involved in a recording project where I've been playing and recording guitar and drums, mixing etc. About 4 months ago my tinnitus suddenly stepped up a gear and is now permanent/constant. Ringing constantly. Always dreaded this happening, and now it has. Ho hum.

I was having a very similar issue for about a week not long ago. general cloudyness and certain high pitches just sounded trashy to the point of being near painful. crushing cans was a big one. Also handling aluminum foil was hard to do at all. Talking on a phone was unsustainable. I was also getting loud bursts of metallic ringing and 1K tones that were louder than other tinnitus I've experienced. I was also having terrible sinus headaches so I decided to wait it out to see if it was sinus related. I could also sort of relieve the issues at times but doing that yawn style unplug the ears thing that I have to do on airplanes to keep my head from exploding. Took a bunch of Sudafed and Clairton and it went away after 5-7 days, but I was getting pretty scared about it. My grandfather was stone deaf by the time he was 50, so I really need to go to a audiologist ASAP.

I'm not sure what's going on with my hearing, but there's enough weirdness that I'm starting to become more conscious of it. I've always thought I had tinnitus, but it's hard to say since the high pitch only seems to come in intermittently.

But worse, the hearing in my left ear has gone down considerably. I stopped wearing earbuds for a while and its seemed to improve but I don't know if any long term damage has been done. I don't have health insurance, so until that's rectified I'm just trying to be nicer to my ears for as long as possible. During the time when my hearing was worse, I also had bouts of vertigo leading me to believe I had labyrinthitis, but the vertigo stopped with the improvement of my hearing.

Both my eardrums are perforated, effectively perpetually. I have an extensive history of ear infections, tubes when I was very young, and an incident with a nail gun (not the end you're thinking of) when I was like 20ish. I haven't been to an audiologist in a while, but when I did after the nail gun incident, my hearing was still pretty solid. I can feel it slipping a bit, and am trying to be conscious that it's only a matter of time before it really starts to go. Functionally it's all fine except trying to focus on a conversation in a room where lots of other people are having their own conversations, but that was never really not a thing. For those of you who do things other than music in your life, take that safety equipment seriously, and protect your ears from shit like machine noise and hammers and power tools...and always be aware of where that pneumatic tool's exhaust port is.