"Tinnitus"

[browning123]

Hi, I am suffering badly with tinnitus in the left ear, I have had it about two years but now its really bad, I am also now partially deaf in the ear.

I am now in my sixties and have shot all my life. The last twenty years I have worn ear protection - too late I believe!

I am worried about my shooting, which I live for!

Also I have received all the medical tests, treatment and counselling available.

I imagine there are other members suffering as I am, and I am asking can anyone give me advice, how to reduce the noise in my ear, is it safe to continue shooting etc etc.

I would be very greatful for any advice or assistance.

[PaulABF]

I've got a mild case of tinnutis due to an explosion a few years ago. Doesn't bother me at all when there's some sort of background noise but when it's extremely quiet, especially when trying to sleep - it's deafening! Can drive me mad. I was recommended to wear ear plugs to try and sleep - waste of time, only seems to amplify the 'ringing' more.

[zorro]

I wouldnt know about any cures buddy or anything to help with it. but i wouldnt worry about the shooting keep going, you have only partially lost a bit of hearing. the amount of old boys ive seen around never wearing ear defenders or anything and are pratically deaf tells me that if i were u dont worry keep shooting

[MM]

my mum has this and wears a hearing aid to block it out. seems to work.

[browning123]

my mum has this and wears a hearing aid to block it out. seems to work.

 

Thanks for your reply but I also wear a hearing aid which used to help - but now it does'nt!!

[browning123]

I wouldnt know about any cures buddy or anything to help with it. but i wouldnt worry about the shooting keep going, you have only partially lost a bit of hearing. the amount of old boys ive seen around never wearing ear defenders or anything and are pratically deaf tells me that if i were u dont worry keep shooting

 

Thanks for your reply, I also shoot with a number of old blokes who are deaf. My concern is not so much the deafness but the continuous loud noise buzzing in my ear.

[deadeye ive]

Hi, I am suffering badly with tinnitus in the left ear, I have had it about two years but now its really bad, I am also now partially deaf in the ear.

I am now in my sixties and have shot all my life. The last twenty years I have worn ear protection - too late I believe!

I am worried about my shooting, which I live for!

Also I have received all the medical tests, treatment and counselling available.

I imagine there are other members suffering as I am, and I am asking can anyone give me advice, how to reduce the noise in my ear, is it safe to continue shooting etc etc.

I would be very greatful for any advice or assistance.

I too have tinnitus in my left ear only and after 5 years of monitoring and tests the conclusion was I was born with it .Apparently tinnitus created by noise damage affects both ears not just one is what the Consultant explained to me so being a Sheetmetal worker claims for industrial deafness would be a non starter .

 

Carry on shooting and Protect what earring you have left as I find it frustrating having to ask people to repeat themselves as I'm sure they are as much frustrated having to do so.

 

The ringing is worst and most noticeable in a quiet room and some digital earing aids have a function to create white noise to counter act this .I can speak from experience and say the up date digital earing aids are superb and really help as they only amplify the zones where your earing is weak .The older models amplified all zones and were horrendous to use.

[Mungler]

I read somewhere that wearing coloured glasses (blue I think) helps.

 

Bizarro, I know.

 

Let me see what I can Google.

[bionicle]

Yep, I got a constant high pitched humming in my ears doc said there’s nothing I can do to for it apart from moderate the amount of loud noise I expose myself too.

 

The damage it done and irreversible, have also been told that I’m partially deaf in one ear.

 

Wear ear defenders / plugs now just for damage limitation.

[Bloke]

I have meniere's disease, which incorporates a lot of tinnitus, so firstly, you have my sympathy. If you have been told all this already, sorry, I don't want to repeat too much.

 

As others have said, there's little you can do now if the drs etc have checked all other causes, but limit the extent it affects you. As previous, I find that a low level of noise, radio etc during the day makes the whistling/ humming less noticable, and at night, a low level of music etc (Not Sabbath/Metallica on full blast! ) helps me get to sleep. It's worst on holiday, other guests don't like music late night, so a 'sleep' facility on your CD player etc stops it going on all night.

 

As for hearing protection, make sure the ear defenders/plugs you use are of the standard to work with the short intense noise of gunfire - not all are. White noise generators on their own will not fully cancel gunfire.

 

Finally, look after your ears! When I was training as a nurse, an ENT specialist told me " Never put anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow!" and it is still true! Don't poke about with a cootton bud/ hair grip, it irritates the ear canal. Even if you are a heavy metal fan, keep the music etc down to a level where your ears don't hurt(sorry).

 

Otherwise all the best.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Bloke

[browning123]

I have meniere's disease, which incorporates a lot of tinnitus, so firstly, you have my sympathy. If you have been told all this already, sorry, I don't want to repeat too much.

 

As others have said, there's little you can do now if the drs etc have checked all other causes, but limit the extent it affects you. As previous, I find that a low level of noise, radio etc during the day makes the whistling/ humming less noticable, and at night, a low level of music etc (Not Sabbath/Metallica on full blast! ) helps me get to sleep. It's worst on holiday, other guests don't like music late night, so a 'sleep' facility on your CD player etc stops it going on all night.

 

As for hearing protection, make sure the ear defenders/plugs you use are of the standard to work with the short intense noise of gunfire - not all are. White noise generators on their own will not fully cancel gunfire.

 

Finally, look after your ears! When I was training as a nurse, an ENT specialist told me " Never put anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow!" and it is still true! Don't poke about with a cootton bud/ hair grip, it irritates the ear canal. Even if you are a heavy metal fan, keep the music etc down to a level where your ears don't hurt(sorry).

 

Otherwise all the best.

 

Thanks for your reply, I also suffer from Meniere's disease - its a ******, I don't get many attacks now since I took early retirement (stress related I was told)

The ear plugs I use are the ones moulded into your ears as advertised in the shooting press.

[Chris B123]

I did not realise there were so many people suffering with this, I thought I was alone, the worse thing I find is when people speak to you, you cant quite make out what they say so you guess and make a complete fool of yourself if you guess wrong or you dont hear them at all and people think you are ignorant. I know my post does not help but at least you know your not alone. All the best Chris.

[retromlc]

a client of mine works at the high end of hearing aid devices,working with Pop Groups etc,as i have tinnitus too i asked him about it,his company do aid which lessen the effects of tinnitus,but in our last conversation,he was telling me that the cure is sycological,as your brain is tuning into the natural noise that your own body is making,through therapy and re training there have been cases where individuals have overcome the condition.PM me with your details and next time i see him,in around 3 weeks I'll get the companies details he works for and you can see what they offer

[libs]

I had it megga for two weeks after shooting a box of carts without any protection, 'as a few won't hurt.' Ruined my sleeping pattern, permanantly p***ed of at everyone and everything due to tiredness and found concentrating on anything other than the ringing impossible. It was worse in my left ear as I belive the ear not on the stock gets the worst of the noise from a shotgun, or I may just be weird.

 

I can't even begin to think how bad it must be for anyone with it for good, and I now do my best to never shoot without hearing protection and encourage others to buy/use hearing protection at every oppotunity I can, because if I can stop just one person going through the condition it will be worth it!

 

To anyone thats got it big-time I hope theres a cure around the corner, or at the very least something to ease the symptoms even a little bit.

[Ean76]

I read in some lads mag (FHM or Nuts) that there is an application on the iphone that emits a sound that cannot be heard which somehow overides the sound that tinnitus gives us thus giving you perfect silence.

 

If that makes sense?

[Bloke]

Thanks for your reply, I also suffer from Meniere's disease - its a ******, I don't get many attacks now since I took early retirement (stress related I was told)

The ear plugs I use are the ones moulded into your ears as advertised in the shooting press.

 

 

Yes, my attacks are less, that dizziness was one of the things that held up my SGC, as, reasonably, the FEO wanted to be sure that I was OK to hold a gun(Quite reasonable, I think ) Stress can be one of the factors, but menieres can also be as a result of persistent and chronic inner ear infections according to my Dr, which was my problem. I can't get ***hearing aids, even though sometimes my hearing is dreadful (What-sorry-eh? ) for a lot of the time and in the sound proof booth, my hearing is ok, not like in the real world of noise all around!

Edited February 26, 2010 by Bloke

[deny essex]

Ive sufferd from tinnitus in one ear since my late 20's, mis spent youth playing in rock bands !

but in the last 5 years developed it in the other ear i would guess from shooting without always wearing ear protection.

Just recently had digital hearing aids fitted, my left ear has lost most of the top end sounds and 50% of loudness the right ear not as bad just a portion of the top end sounds.

I was advised i do not realy need a hearing aid for the right ear as it only has minimal loss but as i have tinnitus in both ears useing an aid for each ear would help.

The hearing aids do help not just with the hearing but with the tinnitus as well mainly because i hear so many more sounds now the tinnitus is walked over by the increased level of sounds i can now hear !.

But the tinnitus is still there when the aids are out and head on the pillow. I did read in a pamphlet somewheres of a sleep pillow or such like for tinnitus sufferers where it plays music of choice when sleeping to "mask" out some of the tinnitus noise, I know from experience as many of us even with good hearing that on a still quiet night the dog thats barking a mile away across the fields begins to grate on the nerves as it seems to get louder, tinnitus is much the same but you cant smoother the noise out with a pillow. Its no fun but can be managed with help and assistance from the right proffesional bodies .

Mine were NHS aids by the way .

[unclemicky]

I know when it's really quiet the whistling in my ears is deafening thanks to being in heavy engineering when I was younger , a lot of the time I cant hear it due to normal noise , but now I'm in my 50's I like others are slowly falling to bits

[YorkshirePurdey]

Get yourself down the docs. I had a similar thing. Certain noises jus made a beeping nois in my ear and if I pushed on my ear I could hear a noise like a dial up modem!! I told the doctor where my wife works and he said it was quite common. I put almond oil in my ear for 2 weeks and had it syringed, (I'm 28, iths not just for old duffers!!) which was a surprisingly pleasant experience , and they got some wax out that bizzarley looked like popcorn, never felt better since!

[fortune82]

Apparently wearing muffs or plugs is not enough to stop damage. I read somewhere you should wear both as noise enters the ear via the bone around the ear.

[browning123]

Thanks to everyone for all your comments - its been greatly appreciated.