I’m 33, i’ve had tinnitus for about 10 years, it’s manageable but it gets aggravated, especially by headphone use so I’m trying to work out a monitoring situation where I can make music comfortably. It’s a bit deflating sometimes feeling like music making has a ceiling which is healthy related but I can still make it and I love healthily and it does seem to stay the same, sometimes better rather than getting worse.
Headphones really bother it though so I am thinking of really reducing or getting new, much softer sounding ones that I can still check details on.
My actual hearing is fairly good, i did a test last year and I have roll off before 16k, at 16k I’m about 10db down.
My mid range is above average so the combination of the above means I find certain situations difficult to hear in.
I hope through healthy living and not messing it up more via headphones, that I can improve my hearing.
I sometimes have moments where I wonder if it’s wise for me to continue with music making so I don’t make my tinnitus worse.
Next steps is larger monitors, so I can have low end with less volume, and much less headphones time.
Does anyone have any success stories with studio set ups that help or reduce impact on their tinnitus/hearing?
In my experience headphones don’t aggravate my tinnitus more than speakers, it’s more down to listening levels. Louder levels definitely make it worse, plus some harsh high frequencies at higher levels can be particularly bad
It was ok, I fessed up that I actually couldn’t hear it due to hearing loss and that I was glad that they pointed it out. I find that you go along way with honesty.
for me it happened wwaay more often with closed back headphones, since I moved to open back barely had any episodes of ringing, I also make sure to have medium levels on both speakers and headphones but open back definitely helped me a lot.
always blocked like I’m descending in an airplane and tinnitus on top of that
surely thats not normal damage just by aging and listening on headphones?
i have the same stuffed feeling on my left ear that started like 4 months back, it sounds like i have a finger stuffing my ear all the time, with that low-frequency hum. also if i try to do the valsalva maneuver it takes a LOT more effort to equalize the left ear compared to the right one, and sometimes it won’t equalize at all. i thought it was earwax blockage at first, but i went to the doctor and they couldn’t tell what it was so i’m waiting to be sent to a specialist…
A decade ago I already considered an ANTI-Hearing Aid: Wearing ear protection everytime I go outside. The subway, the cars, the people … even with ear protection it’s just effing LOUD!
damn yeah that sucks, the doctors i saw told me my hearing is “normal” even though i basically have a 20db per octave LPF with the cutoff at 4khz on my left ear…
Typical for a doc saying shit like that is normal, did you go get a 2nd opinion? Sometimes you find a doctor that actually cares but they are almost as rare as unicorns
yeah indeed that was what my doc said too, told me to use nasal spray and doing lots of pressure equalization… did that for 1 month didnt help at all… quite weird i still have it after almost 5 months so im getting worried it’s not temporary.
ive had it for nearly 10 years.One doctor I saw suggested I may just have contracted an infection that I was unaware of, and that it did some lasting damage. Which is terrifying if true… I also suspect vaping, as there’s definitely a lot of anecdotal evidence of this sort of thing on vaping forums. I think I remember being prescribed nasal steroids and ceterizine (hay fever antihistamines) at the start, but they didn’t do anything really. also tried saline nasal sprays, cutting out various things like dairy etc etc, to no avail. Best thing is to try and live healthy and avoid stress/fatigue, as I find those things exacerbate it. Quit smoking/vaping/nicotine if applicable. Limit caffeine, alcohol… Oh yeh, and needless to say, im super conscientious with hearing protection, and limit headphone use etc. Also worth checking out the over-the-counter version of Sudafed that has the pseudoephidrene in it- it can help but can only really be taken in small doses (ie 2-3 days then stop). I take this whenever I fly, as the baropressure in the cabin can flare up my ETD symptoms. Hope some of that is helpful…!
EDIT- oh, and check with your dentist to see if you display symptoms of TMJ, as this is another factor that can affect ETD/tinnitus/hearing issues. I also have this, and only recently have started wearing a clench guard.
i had microsuction earwax removal recently, something i’ve known i needed for about 20 years. it was transformational, the best audio upgrade ever - crisp sparkling highs and warm euphonic mids. sadly it hasn’t touched my tinnitus.
Early 30s.
Until the previous year it was about 17-18kHz both ears, no tinnitus.
This year was tough. Right after a number of very ototoxic chemotherapy courses I’ve got very annoying tinnitus and my hearing has dropped to 12-14kHz. Doctor told me that could be permanent ear damage.
Now I’m slowly recovering. I’d say it’s 15-16 kHz and barely hearable tinnitus sometimes.
From my experience, high frequencies rollout is not the worst thing. There are not so much useful information upper than 15kHz due to engineers’ hearing loss and speakers you use.
Much worse when your ears are unequal. I had noticeable dip around 7-8kHz at my left ear.
That’s fun when you sweep mono sine wave from 20 to 20k and sound changes its position in stereo field instead of staying at the center, but actually that’s not fun.
And one more not fun thing is when your ears get overloaded in minutes when you listen to moderately loud music. Imagine your ears after long loud show. And imagine the same feeling after just an underground train or something like that. Even slightly-louder-than-tv music caused that, mostly because of high frequencies like crash drums in rock music or movies in cinema.
I’m glad that’ve finished and even was able to visit live show recently without any discomfort.
