Article on Tinnitus

As long as it's just a preventive, I'm in doubt it could help anyone.
I don't like the idea of taking drugs just because something *could* happen.
 
As long as it's just a preventive, I'm in doubt it could help anyone.
I don't like the idea of taking drugs just because something *could* happen.

Tinnitus is 100% preventative by keeping the volume down, wearing ear plugs, etc.

I suffer from it in both ears because of 15 years of working with loud machinery.
 
Tinnitus is 100% preventative by keeping the volume down, wearing ear plugs, etc.

I suffer from it in both ears because of 15 years of working with loud machinery.
You can actually sue the company you have been working at for a legitimate reason in this case. Working with machines louder than 80-85dB requires the company to provide ear protection.
 
You can actually sue the company you have been working at for a legitimate reason in this case. Working with machines louder than 80-85dB requires the company to provide ear protection.

All the companies that I worked for did provide ear protection but the lawyers could always argue that other causes were to blame - loud music, fire arms, motorcycles...
 
All the companies that I worked for did provide ear protection but the lawyers could always argue that other causes were to blame - loud music, fire arms, motorcycles...
... which might actually be the case.
If you used the ear protection provided, it's highly unlikely you got the tinnitus from work, except if the ear protection didn't reduce the noise exposition below the "safe for permanent exposition" treshold.

When it comes to potential damage to the ears, not only the sound pressure level is important, but more the time of exposure. While it's safe to have 80dB of noise almost permanently, even 5dB more significantly reduces the amount of time at which the noise exposure starts to get damaging.

For more information, check out this diagram:
http://docs.engineeringtoolbox.com/documents/717/noise-exposure-time.png
Note that an exposition of 95dB for only 60 minutes per day is enough to be in the dangerous area. Note that some clubs usually have the volume turned up to until 100dB.

This is why live music and headphones are so dangerous. You are exposed at a high level and for a longer period of time. This is also why it's so important to wear ear protection at work, even if the sound pressure level is moderate. Due to the long exposure, it's still dangerous.
Also, higher frequencies are much more dangerous than lower frequencies, due to the anatomy of the ear. That being said, a lot of sound guys usually already lost a good portion of they listening capacities, thus turning up the highs to compensate for that even more, exposing the audience to an even higher threat. I've been in so many clubs already and NOT EVEN ONE of them had the highs turned up in a reasonable manner.
(Actually it's one of the main reasons why I love drum and bass music... there's nothing 'up there' that can be turned up... and bass and sub-bass practically deals no damage to your ears even at ridicolously high sound pressure levels)

There's also a sound pressure treshold of emitting sound when it comes to machines. At this treshold, there must be physical means to reduce the noise (encapsulation) in addition to ear protection.
 
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Yeah--I've been in construction/carpentry all my life. Always tried to use ear protection but don't know too many carpenters my age without hearing loss/tinnitus. Of course also a few Johnny Winter and Grateful Dead concerts...The article shows that there is good research being done on the condition which is nice to know. You'd think they could implant an EQ in your ear and dial out the particular frequency.
 
Yeah--I've been in construction/carpentry all my life. Always tried to use ear protection but don't know too many carpenters my age without hearing loss/tinnitus. Of course also a few Johnny Winter and Grateful Dead concerts...The article shows that there is good research being done on the condition which is nice to know. You'd think they could implant an EQ in your ear and dial out the particular frequency.
The thing with tinnitus is... it's not your ear, it's your brain and neural system that is damaged.

Kinda like phantom-pain people with amputated limbs reported.
 
Tinnitus is 100% preventative by keeping the volume down, wearing ear plugs, etc.

I suffer from it in both ears because of 15 years of working with loud machinery.

Exposure to loud noise is not the only cause of tinnitus. So this statement is not entirely accurate.
 
Exposure to loud noise is not the only cause of tinnitus. So this statement is not entirely accurate.

I agree my mother had tinnitus and we could never come up with a time when she was exposed to loud noise.

Still, protecting your ears is a very good idea.
 
Despite it not being particular rock n roll and all that, I am quietly pleased that the last two decades of being in a band have been free from marshall stacks and acoustic drums! :encouragement:
 
Despite it not being particular rock n roll and all that, I am quietly pleased that the last two decades of being in a band have been free from marshall stacks and acoustic drums! :encouragement:
That being said, I'm always amazed at how the common sense of people in the audience has improved in the last years.
While some years ago it could never be loud enough, I actually had a lot of discussions with (young) people nowadays talking about live concerts and stuff and at many occasions they said that "the concert was great, but it was way too loud ..." - and I agree with that, most of the time. It's so ridicolous when it's so loud that you can't hear the instruments anymore because the air is "saturated".

And it's really a shame that on most festivals the underdog bands deliver better sound than the multimillionaire headliner bands. Because headliners, of course, need to be much louder than the subliners.
 
All true :encouragement:

Thankfully, I've always been very clear on wanting to 'feel the music', but also recognising that there's no benefit in trying to deafen anyone!
 
I have tinnitus but I'm an old bastard and I've been around industrial noise and loud bands since Noah was a lad, I've had to learn to live with it
 
Thankfully, I've always been very clear on wanting to 'feel the music', but also recognising that there's no benefit in trying to deafen anyone!
Thing is: you are at mercy of the sound guy in this regard.
It's a shame when you play instrumental-heavy progressive stuff with lots of dynamics but the sound guy turns it up like some schoolyard punkrock.
 
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