Tinnitus??

residentgiant

My hearing, like I'm sure it is with a lot of you here, is of the utmost importance to me. I was at a party on the 4th. My drunken idiot friend threw one of those little-lady finger firecrackers at me, and it went off right next to my left ear. It was like a fucking gunshot at point blank, I thought it blew my eardrum open. It's wednesday now and there's still a ringing, high frequencies sound like they're coming out a blown tweeter, and it just feels weird... Doesn't hurt but it feels like it's congested. I'm freaked out that I permanently damaged my cochlea or something. I mean I'm sure it wasn't GOOD for my ear but could I really be fucked for life with this??? Or should it just go away after a few days?

Mr_Lee_PHD

I remember once 'in my raving days' when I got dragged to a Helter Skelter event at Milton Keynes Sactuary.



20,000 whistles and horns being blown in my ear for about 12 hours. A rediculously loud soundsystem too, that was so loud you couldn't hear the music properly. Serious.



That ringing lasted for about two days straight and then gradually died out.



I was okay again after about 3 days luckily.

BelgianWaffle

...high frequencies sound like they're coming out a blown tweeter, and it just feels weird... Doesn't hurt but it feels like it's congested...

I've had this sensation for over a year now. Can't remember what caused it, but I have a feeling it'll never go away.

Don't mean to scare you, but I'd go to a doctor to have it checked out. I want to go to an ear specialist, since my regular doctor couldn't see anything, except for what looked like a bulging eardrum.

My self-diagnosis (and a possibility in your case) is that there's some fluid build-up in your ear (caused by trauma/ explosion), which makes high frequencies sound muffled.

Give it a day more, and if it's still there - have it checked out.

ovulationist

I remember once 'in my raving days' .

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....

Unknown

Last August I was ripping apart a house and when I was working in the closet (AYO?) I hit a crowbar with a hammer...the loud PING of steel on steel coupled with the confined space caused some hearing loss in my right ear for almost ten days before it either got better or I got used to it.

Mr_Lee_PHD

I remember once 'in my raving days' .

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....

Actually it was my 'raving DAY'.

December 31st 1997.

No more raving after that.

On_the_Red_Clay

Give it a few days- i've had similar experiences after extremely loud parties / gigs and the sensation went away.

DJ_NevilleC

Go see "It's All Gone Pete Tong"



and then read some Pete Townshend interviews.



and finally get one these in your house:

KARLITO

My wife walked into a porta-john in the summer of like 1998 and came out w/ hearing loss. No reason whatso ever, no loud noise nothing. No trauma just BAM like less than 50% hearing in her leaft ear. Never gonna come back and Dr.'s don't even have an explination for it. That said this firecraker induced deal will probably go away in afew days. I tell you what though tinnitis, I have it. Most of ya'll proabaly do to. You get that ringing for a few seconds every now and then and it goes away.

jjfad027

Eardrums can heal. What you gotta worry about is those little hair (stereocillia) getting knocked down.

funky16corners

My wife walked into a porta-john in the summer of like 1998 and came out w/ hearing loss. No reason whatso ever, no loud noise nothing. No trauma just BAM like less than 50% hearing in her leaft ear. Never gonna come back and Dr.'s don't even have an explination for it. That said this firecraker induced deal will probably go away in afew days. I tell you what though tinnitis, I have it. Most of ya'll proabaly do to. You get that ringing for a few seconds every now and then and it goes away.

I've heard of non-traumatic hearing loss, i.e. caused by a virus.

threetwosix

My wife walked into a porta-john in the summer of like 1998 and came out w/ hearing loss. No reason whatso ever, no loud noise nothing. No trauma just BAM like less than 50% hearing in her leaft ear. Never gonna come back and Dr.'s don't even have an explination for it. That said this firecraker induced deal will probably go away in afew days. I tell you what though tinnitis, I have it. Most of ya'll proabaly do to. You get that ringing for a few seconds every now and then and it goes away.

I've heard of non-traumatic hearing loss, i.e. caused by a virus.

Decompression probs from deep water/ SCUBA diving can be a problem as well.



Had a similar firecracker-right-next-to-ear blast experience you described -- took a couple of days to return to normal.

Grafwritah

Tinnitus is genetic, it's not from fireworks.

KARLITO

Tinnitus is genetic

also caused from repeated exposure to loud noise

silvertone

I got on a plane a few years back with an ear infection, and since then have had the belief that my hearing is not quite as surgical as it once was (that said I do mastering and whatnot, so my ear maintainence is very important, the thought of hearing loss scares the shit outta me!)

Out gigging? 15spl cutsom ear jobs + a daily dose of ginko biloba. The ginko makes the (bacillus? bacrus?) hairs more firm and less susseptable to damage. I would also suggest quitting smoking, as most people have a mild allergy which causes permanent problems in the eusteacean tubes, including frequent infection.

I think the ringing will go away soon, but be careful.
.02

good luck.

Doctor 666 too.

Funky_Mimizu

...high frequencies sound like they're coming out a blown tweeter, and it just feels weird... Doesn't hurt but it feels like it's congested...

I've had this sensation for over a year now. Can't remember what caused it, but I have a feeling it'll never go away.

Don't mean to scare you, but I'd go to a doctor to have it checked out. I want to go to an ear specialist, since my regular doctor couldn't see anything, except for what looked like a bulging eardrum.

My self-diagnosis (and a possibility in your case) is that there's some fluid build-up in your ear (caused by trauma/ explosion), which makes high frequencies sound muffled.

Give it a day more, and if it's still there - have it checked out.

I have a similar but diferent problem. Everytime I swallow, I can hear my ears pop. Also, lots of noises make my ears feel like there is a small pop, I can hear it and feel it. Happens when music is loud, but not too loud... maybe it happens when its too loud also, but I just can't hear it.

THis was super annoying for awhile, and has been going on for about 2 years now. I've had my ears checked out at the regular doctor, not a specialist, and the said everything appears to look fine... And I did fine on the hearing test.

Worries me, but I've really gotten use to it. I don't notice unless I think, "hey, are my ears still doing that", and then I swallow, and sure enough, pop. ANyhow, I agree with your dignosis... seems like trapped fluid. NOises for instance of certain frequencies, I think, make the fluid bounce around.

Peace...
FNM

BeatChemist

Worries me, but I've really gotten use to it. I don't notice unless I think, "hey, are my ears still doing that", and then I swallow, and sure enough, pop.

Yo I get the same thing. Just with the swallowing though, not with loud noises. I have bad sinuses though... prone to congestion and shite. I figure is has to do with this. Never really thought about it much until you said something... now I can't stop thinking about it everytime I swallow

Anyone ever get their ears candled or cleaned by a doctor and notice better hearing afterwards? I've never tried it myself...

Vagabond

Worries me, but I've really gotten use to it. I don't notice unless I think, "hey, are my ears still doing that", and then I swallow, and sure enough, pop.

Yo I get the same thing. Just with the swallowing though, not with loud noises. I have bad sinuses though... prone to congestion and shite. I figure is has to do with this. Never really thought about it much until you said something... now I can't stop thinking about it everytime I swallow

Anyone ever get their ears candled or cleaned by a doctor and notice better hearing afterwards? I've never tried it myself...

I tried those candles out like a month ago....They seemed to work for me.

BeatChemist

Worries me, but I've really gotten use to it. I don't notice unless I think, "hey, are my ears still doing that", and then I swallow, and sure enough, pop.

Yo I get the same thing. Just with the swallowing though, not with loud noises. I have bad sinuses though... prone to congestion and shite. I figure is has to do with this. Never really thought about it much until you said something... now I can't stop thinking about it everytime I swallow

Anyone ever get their ears candled or cleaned by a doctor and notice better hearing afterwards? I've never tried it myself...

I tried those candles out like a month ago....They seemed to work for me.

Home-style shits?? Or did you go to some urban witchdoctor healer naturopath?

I'm just kinda curious because I've been thinking about trying it out.

Vagabond

Worries me, but I've really gotten use to it. I don't notice unless I think, "hey, are my ears still doing that", and then I swallow, and sure enough, pop.

Yo I get the same thing. Just with the swallowing though, not with loud noises. I have bad sinuses though... prone to congestion and shite. I figure is has to do with this. Never really thought about it much until you said something... now I can't stop thinking about it everytime I swallow

Anyone ever get their ears candled or cleaned by a doctor and notice better hearing afterwards? I've never tried it myself...

I tried those candles out like a month ago....They seemed to work for me.

Home-style shits?? Or did you go to some urban witchdoctor healer naturopath?

I'm just kinda curious because I've been thinking about trying it out.

My girl picked some up at the Natural Health store here in Portland. I was suprised at the amount of funk that those candles pulled out of my ear cannals. I thought that all the local punk shows in my high school years had killed that shit; but I am hearing better than I have in years.

mim

The Members Of Tinnitus - "Tactics For Instant Music"

BelgianWaffle

My girl picked some up at the Natural Health store here in Portland. I was suprised at the amount of funk that those candles pulled out of my ear cannals. I thought that all the local punk shows in my high school years had killed that shit; but I am hearing better than I have in years.

what's the deal w/ candles???!!... do they create a vacuum to suck stuff out?... I'm scurred!... do they really work?

I'm down to try it if people recommend it

Otis_Funkmeyer

Worries me, but I've really gotten use to it. I don't notice unless I think, "hey, are my ears still doing that", and then I swallow, and sure enough, pop.

Yo I get the same thing. Just with the swallowing though, not with loud noises. I have bad sinuses though... prone to congestion and shite. I figure is has to do with this. Never really thought about it much until you said something... now I can't stop thinking about it everytime I swallow

Anyone ever get their ears candled or cleaned by a doctor and notice better hearing afterwards? I've never tried it myself...

My ear was clogged once so I went to the doctor, he just shot a stream of warm water in there and it all came out.
Everyone should clean their ears about once a month, you will notice an improvement in your hearing. You don't need to go to a doctor, you can just use something that squirts water with a fair amount of force. I let the stream from the shower clean my ears, which is something he also recommended. If things get bad, there are eardrops that will break up the wax for you.
Candling is effective, the flame creates a little vaccuum, pretty sure there's no danger in it.

Garcia_Vega

I remeber watching the A&E biography of Englbert Humperdinck, a few years back, and dude was talking about his tinnitus. Apparently he got it late in his career and it almost drove him crazy. Englebert couldn't sleep or think, all he heard was weeeeeeeeeee! He started bugging out one day and breaking all sorts of shit and hitting himself in the head. Even contemplated suicide so the ringing would stop. Englebert had tried everything to remedy it, when finally he took up meditation and haiku, and that helped calm his nerves. He claims that to this day he has a permanent ringing in his ears. He was all, "I have it to this day, right now I can hear it, even as we interview, but it no longer disturbs me as it once did."


Englebert says, "Protect your ears my friends!"

Otis_Funkmeyer

Some believe that Van Gogh cut his ear off trying to stop the ringing.

BeatChemist

Some believe that Van Gogh cut his ear off trying to stop the ringing.

I thought he was fucked up on absynth or laudanum... ??

asstro

For real, tinnitus is no joke, I have a pretty serious case of it myself from years of playing in bands, DJ'ing, and going to shows without using proper hearing protection. I swore that earplugs affected my playing and enjoyment negatively, but not nearly as bad as the constant ringing I hear all of the time affects my life now. Conversations in any kind of crowded room are almost impossible for me to follow now, yet people speaking at slightly louder than normal speaking volume feels like an ice pick straight down my ear sometimes. It's also worse in my right ear because in my band I was always stage left and had the cymbals blasting my right ear out for the better part of 10 years. It's really no fun at all.

Do yourself a favor and pick up some earplugs next time you go to a show, no matter how lame or old you might feel. You also should definitely keep a close eye on how loud your headphones are while you are DJ'ing, I know I had a habit of letting my phones get louder and louder over the course of a night, and the next day I would turn on my mixer and be scared how loud they were. I bet more than a few of you do that too, and it's murder on your ears, especially if you've been drinking.

The only thing I regret in life is that I didn't protect my ears when I had the chance. Take care of yours.

Grope

If you had Tinnitus, you'd have to learn to deal with it. There are therapies that teach you to accept the noise in your ear. It's called habituation. Tinnitus can't be healed. But I guess that you don't have Tinnitus. I thought that Tinnitus is caused by a continuous loud noise (like the music at raves), not by short intense bangs.

Make sure to see a specialist and if it is Tinnitus, try to find therapists. Seriously.

holmes

Earplugs are definitely the way to go, fucking around with motorcycles and playing in bands has given me irregular tinnitus (one moment they'll be fine & the next there's a pop & off they go ringing for long periods of time for no apparent reason) so now if I'm working on bikes or playing or watching a show I use plugs. I used to also get real bad ears when I was surfing lots. Getting a doctor to rinse your ears out is good too, you seriously don't realise what you are missing (hearing wise) until you get that done. Those ear candles work too, kinda gross what they suck out of there though. Ayo on those little hairs in your ears, there's only a finite amount of times that they will bounce back up after being clobbered by waves of sound and when they stay down that's it for your hearing.

bobbydee

for the record, van gogh only cut off his lobe- the story has just gotten "chinese whipered" up. My best mat ewas up for a role in a film adaptation of van gogh's younger years, so me being art buff and all i filled in the blanks on what i already didn't know. This was one of them.