Thread: Any Tinnitus sufferers out there?

Originally Posted by icedog

Yes in my left ear since the side airbag deployed in a car I was driving when I went over a bump four years ago.

You can blame the anti-seat belt lobby for that one.
In Europe, airbags are softer and slower because we have seatbelt laws. An airbag is a secondary safety feature, mainly designed for keeping your head off the steering wheel.

In the US, an airbag is thought of as the only safety feature that can be relied on to be applied, since many states have no seatbelt laws. As such, the US airbags have to be able to stop a heavy adult at a 120 km/h (~70 mph) head-on collision.

And because of this, US airbags explode with much more intensity. Kids have been decapitated by US airbags. But at least you have the right to be stupid and not wear the belt. So everybody wins, right

As for myself: I am lucky I didn't have it.

when I was 9 or 10, I took a roll of that fire cracker ammo you can use in toy guns. I put it on a stone slab, and then hammered it with a large rock.
The sounds actually hurt really bad, but the high pitch hum went away.
I also once fired a shotgun in open air without ear protection. same result.

Sometimes (weirldy only in office environments) one of my ears will suddenly ring with a high pitche sound that will fade quickly.

I have had a very low level tinnitus all my life. I only hear it in a quiet environment. As a matter of fact everyone has it to some extent. Your inner ear is basically a receiver + amplifier. Yes, like a radio. All receivers + amplifiers generate some noise.

People who say they don't have it should put a shell with the concave side against their ears. If you can hear the sea you know what your own tinnitus sounds like.

Tinnitus drives some people crazy. If it is accompanied by hearing loss a hearing aid often helps. Some people actually wear a masking device that looks like a hearing aid that emits a different sound that they like better than their own tinnitus. Putting music on helps a lot of sufferers as well. i have treated patients with amitriptyline to make it more bearable.

Originally Posted by HNSB

You are pulling your wife's hair in your sleep...

I guess that would be totally different kind of screaming , combined with some slamming on my head maybe.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Sometimes (weirldy only in office environments) one of my ears will suddenly ring with a high pitche sound that will fade quickly.

in my job i deliver to many types of factories and manufacturing facilities. there are some that really set the noise off, even before i get inside the building or close to the machines or whatever is creating the noise.

have any of you ever been inside of an office or computer room that use "white noise"? this seems to help as the ringing goes away in this type of environment. the first time i walked into an office with a white noise generator, i just stopped and it took a while to figure out what was going on. i was so used to the tinnitus and all of a sudden it was gone or covered up. it made for a weird feeling at first, almost to the point that i thought i had gone deaf all at once.
i am almost tempted to try out one of these machines to see if it will help:
White Noise Machine - Sleep Mate - Marpac 980-A - Sound Machine - Sound Screen - Sound Conditioners - White Noise Machines - Sleep Mate - Marpac 980 - Marsona

Since I was about 28. I usually only become conscious of it when it's mentioned. For example, in an article or on a thread like this.
Like many others firearms, noisy machines and motorcycles have all contributed to it. I have to say that as soon as I became aware of it I started using earplugs and earmuffs together for shooting.
I sometimes act as a technical scrutineer for Formula One and I am one of the last people off the starting grid. Nothing blocks the noise of 24 GP cars starting a race. Or for that matter, standing next to one in the pit garage.

Ladies and gentlemen:

I have had a bad case of tinnitus since the Vietnam war, thanks especially to artillery fire. Vietnam was an angry place where people ran around shooting at one other, which wasn't exactly neighborly, you know?

Yes, Chris, like yours my tinnitus makes a high pitched sound — and it is always in my ears. As a result, I have had some hearing loss, mostly in the upper ranges. Next week the Veterans Administration will fit me for hearing aids for both ears, not only to help with the hearing loss, but also to counter the tinnitus somewhat.

Fighting tinnitus day and night since Vietnam has been a battle, and for me, a tragedy, especially since I spent 30 years as a classical music radio announcer/music director/program director. Not to be able to hear Brahms in his full glory is indeed painful.

Since Vietnam I have not heard the night's sounds clearly. The night's silence. Loud noises, including conversations, especially from arrogant and ill-mannered people, rattle my system. Caffeine spikes the sound more. And the list goes on.

So, yes, tinnitus is a continuous war in my head. I might lose a battle occasionally, but I fight hard psychologically to dominate in the war.

Regards,

Obie

I've had it for years and don't know when it started. Both ears recently and sometimes ringing turns to a flat note bell ring kind oflike "DOINK".
About a month ago I finally had to get hearing aids as I also have a High frequency hearing loss. The aids do not mask the ringing. Had them the last week of hunting season here and didnot reallize all the frogs and crickets that were in the woods. Never heard them before.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Perhaps a dumb question, but what gave you this idea?
I mean I can understand firing the first shot. Well, not really, but you didn't know how bad it would be. However, after having fired that first shot, what made you fire the 59 shots after that?

I was going on a hunt the following day, and my scope took a hard hit that morning. It took a long time to get it re-zeroed. I found out later that when it got hit the reticle got knocked loose, so it wouldn't stay zeroed.

only have going to a gig. but it goes away after time.