razorfox
BIG THING
"Say Hello, To The Bad Guy....... fox, ...razor fox"
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Post by razorfox on Aug 27, 2020 22:13:05 GMT -5
Hi all,
If you recognise the username you'll know i'm an infrequent contributor to this great board, some may even been chuckling at reading contributor with my history of posting. I have though been around a long time and to be honest i do not post on any other forum like i do in this place. It gives me a kind of homely feeling this board and keeps me in touch with a band i will forever hold dearest when they feel far away at times.
Its currently 4am in the UK and i'm on a night shift (I service/repair trains), i'm feeling a bit odd, maybe a bit lost but i felt i wanted to write something down;
For the last 8 months i have been suffering from Tinnitus. It nearly consumed me. It's an annoying thing you cant ever escape from. Some people deal with it better than others i suppose but it depends on their loudness of Tinnitus. Apparently something as simple as ear wax triggered my future life with it and looking back at when it first blared out in my ears in the middle of the night i am so thankful that all this time has passed and its lowered in level. It was a scary LOUD time and i could think of nothing else, it occupies your thoughts and distracts you from day to day tasks. I was highly concerned how i was going to ever drop off to sleep. Initially i ended up on antibiotics which i reacted badly (unknown it was the tablets at the time) too and suffered convulsions with panic attacks where i felt my whole world just slipping from under my feet. Not a pleasant experience i must say. Anyway as the days, weeks, months passed i learnt to deal with it and as i did the tinnitus was thankfully improving. I'm at a point where i have bad days (usually when tired) and good days where i can quite happily forget i've got it and have a normal day, which is a relief. I'm in a good spot and don't feel concerned that i will have this until my end of days and that i can happily manage it - Positive thinking! But one lingering negative thought is if i can pass a hearing test in a medical to stay in my job 12 months away, that i'll have to wait and see or hear if you like!
If i could wish it away right now oh by god hell yeah go, go away and never return but sadly i doubt this will ever be the case. For those who have it you have my sympathy, for those new to it..... you'll get there, it's not the end! For those who haven't, take care!
It may sound trivial, "pffft just a bit of ringing eh" and there's sure a hell of a lot worse things out there that can get people *looks at the elephant in the room........ C****r* but it's still something people have to deal with where there's no magical cure. Musicians are common to getting tinnitus and it got me thinking do any of Duran suffer from it?
Anyway i'm not a huge writer, this feels like a massive post but i bet when its up i will be like "Is that it?!". I Just wanted to get something down off my chest and re reading this i already feel a bit better.
Thanks for reading, even if this gets lost in the ether of the general part of the board and its only myself who ever did.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2020 5:26:12 GMT -5
Sorry for your issues and troubles.
I don’t (think I) have Tinnitus but my work in an oil refinery for the last 10 years has made an impact. I work in a noisy environment (vacuum pumps and loud tankers etc). Its left me with a constant ringing in both ears. Its not bad enough to prevent me from sleeping but its loud enough for me to take notice when I’m sat in a quiet environment. I expect going to too many concerts haven’t helped my cause!
It doesn’t rule my life but it is still a worry for what the future may hold. Who knows? But its too late in the day for a career change, that I do know.
So, I can relate to your position - If its worrying you that much, find people to talk with. You need real people to listen to you. A problem shared and all that.
I take it you wear ear defenders in your work?
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razorfox
BIG THING
"Say Hello, To The Bad Guy....... fox, ...razor fox"
Posts: 705
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Post by razorfox on Nov 15, 2020 17:00:50 GMT -5
Sorry for your issues and troubles. I don’t (think I) have Tinnitus but my work in an oil refinery for the last 10 years has made an impact. I work in a noisy environment (vacuum pumps and loud tankers etc). Its left me with a constant ringing in both ears. Its not bad enough to prevent me from sleeping but its loud enough for me to take notice when I’m sat in a quiet environment. I expect going to too many concerts haven’t helped my cause! It doesn’t rule my life but it is still a worry for what the future may hold. Who knows? But its too late in the day for a career change, that I do know. So, I can relate to your position - If its worrying you that much, find people to talk with. You need real people to listen to you. A problem shared and all that. I take it you wear ear defenders in your work? From my understanding any phantom noise that you hear that is not from an external source is classed as Tinnitus whether it be ringing, humming, low droning, anything really. So I'd say yes unfortunately from what you've said you are in the tinnitus bracket and like you say the loud work environment and concerts have probably taken their tole. I do wear ear Defenders especially when we release upto 10 Bar air pressure tanks into the atmosphere, I started wearing them more in other conditions which I didn't deem necessary before like near electrical converters and compressors and it's surprising the loudness of them. I suppose you get used to and immune to things where you work for years. Like you a career change is out the question, it's all I've known since I was 17. During the early days of when it first come on it was like standing by a runway listening to the jets rev up on planes, most unpleasant to say the least and I opened up to my brother who ironically said he suffers as well. His is in one ear and basically from abuse of loud music on his behalf. Anyway cheers for the reply Skinburn
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Post by Guapito on Feb 11, 2021 9:35:19 GMT -5
I’ve had tinnitus for about 15 years. I went to a “The Darkness” gig at Wembley was megaloud and the loud ringing/muffled hearing lasted over a week when usually it would be a day or so. Since then, it’s quietened down but it’s still there. It’s worse when I am tired and stressed. There’s been a lot of stress in my life over the past three years and it has made it worse but not enough to keep me awake or flood my mind with anxiety. I’ve learned to live with it and accept that it’s part of my life and that I’m not the only one. Millions of people have it, so there’s some kind of acceptance. The beeaatch is that some frequencies have become inaudible to me due to the high pitched whine, so sometimes I cannot hear people well in noisy environments. I’ve put it down to loud music (I was a Walkman freak in my teens) and my working environment. I used to work at Heathrow Airport and the combination of aircraft, baggage belts and crowds have all played their part. However, part of me believes it’s also genetic as my mother and aunts have it as well as my brother. Cognitive behavioural therapy is meant to help those that find it agonising. Now when I go to a gig, I wear special ear plugs to reduce the levels.
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Post by Dr Of The Revolution on Feb 17, 2021 6:16:11 GMT -5
I caught tinnitus in september 2019 at a concert. When I arrived at the venue with my girlfriend the support act was already playing. I was at the entrance and I immediately noticed the sound coming from the concert hall was incredibly loud. So I asked for earplugs, which concert venues are obliged to supply for free when somebody asks for them. But the earplugs were of mediocre quality.
So I entered the hall and then the main act started playing. Here I was, at the very back near the Front of House mixer because I deemed it too dangerous being closer to the speakers. With earplugs. Only for one minute I took them out, because the sound I was hearing was really bad and I wanted to check if it was the mix or the plugs.
We didn't stay until the end of the concert. It became unbearable.
Well, I still have a permanent ringing in my right ear since then.
I have to remark that I'm a professional sound engineer and I have always been very careful to preserve my hearing, hence asking for earplugs, hence staying in the back of the venue, hence leaving (fleeing) the concert even before it was finished.
After what had happened I bought professional earplugs, custom made. That was january 2020. I noticed I started to wear them more and more : on the train, in Brussels traffic while on my bike, even at lunch at home (I have young loud kids). Then Covid started. The world went a lot more silent. Less traffic, etc.
For my ears, this lockdown had been a treat. I rarely use my earplugs at the moment.
But for my ears I fear the end of Covid. The world will become louder again. Maybe even louder than it has ever been.
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razorfox
BIG THING
"Say Hello, To The Bad Guy....... fox, ...razor fox"
Posts: 705
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Post by razorfox on Feb 25, 2021 17:26:42 GMT -5
Thank you both for commenting, I have found sharing, listening to/reading people's experience of tinnitus to be of help to me. I suppose its some kind of reassurance to know that people are out there dealing with it well.
From what I've read in the past the amount of people who actually have it is astounding and there's probably more which are not even included in the statistics. An incurable non life threatening annoyance! There was some main press news about it last year and how they've invested into research on tinnitus, we'll probably be long gone before they get anywhere and it certainly won't be a magic pill.
When I'm sitting up late reading or browsing I try to zone out on what I'm doing and ignore it, drift into what I'm doing so I don't notice the noise. Same when I'm trying to sleep, brain waves on something else and not paying attention to it so I'm not hearing it.
As I'm writing this tho it has my full attention, bloody noise!
Bet in old age with natural hearing loss is going to be fun!
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Post by Guapito on Mar 10, 2021 18:38:49 GMT -5
I’ve started to wear ear protectors by a company called Flare. They do make some difference. Check them out.
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Post by stutube on Apr 20, 2021 11:35:12 GMT -5
I've suffered from what I'd personally call, mild tinnitus for most of my life but have to say my heart goes out to you for having an ear splitting case
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Post by jupiter on Jun 8, 2021 16:14:56 GMT -5
Hi RF, Just seen this! Bit late to the party but I've not been active for some time prior to May so have only looked at main DD section. That'll learn me. I too have tinnitus and you have my sympathy. I also wear ear plugs whenever I go outside as I live in town (unless I'm by the river when I happily take them out!). Just to make things more fun, I also have hyperacusis - a heightened sensitivity to particular sounds that are not usually a problem for others. Birdsong can be especially penetrating and Police/ambulance sirens...let's not go there. I agree that ear plugs are a must for concerts. Actually, you'll likley find they improve the sound as I find most concerts just a wall of noise without them. I hope you continue to get some kind of relief for your tinnitus. PS I use earplugs from boots, wouldn't be without them www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/first-aid/boots-foam-ear-plugs-20s-10153243
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razorfox
BIG THING
"Say Hello, To The Bad Guy....... fox, ...razor fox"
Posts: 705
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Post by razorfox on Aug 6, 2021 15:42:00 GMT -5
Hi RF, Just seen this! Bit late to the party but I've not been active for some time prior to May so have only looked at main DD section. That'll learn me. I too have tinnitus and you have my sympathy. I also wear ear plugs whenever I go outside as I live in town (unless I'm by the river when I happily take them out!). Just to make things more fun, I also have hyperacusis - a heightened sensitivity to particular sounds that are not usually a problem for others. Birdsong can be especially penetrating and Police/ambulance sirens...let's not go there. I agree that ear plugs are a must for concerts. Actually, you'll likley find they improve the sound as I find most concerts just a wall of noise without them. I hope you continue to get some kind of relief for your tinnitus. PS I use earplugs from boots, wouldn't be without them www.boots.com/health-pharmacy/medicines-treatments/first-aid/boots-foam-ear-plugs-20s-10153243Welcome to the party! It's zinging and tinging all day and night! 😆 Hyperacusis! Hadn't heard of that before, I hope you deal with this ok. Personally I'm in a good place at the moment, I passed my hearing test for my job! That was such a relief, I was pondering my future if I failed on tower bridge up in London prior to the test. Was hard tho, in that sound proof booth with the headsets on it made the tinnitus the focal point of my mind and it just seemed to crank up in volume but I suppose the natural sounds of life wasn't masking it so it probably wasn't actually louder. I could clearly hear the first few tests but as it went on I found it hard to decipher the test thru my tinnitus to the point where I thought is that the test noise? And then it went and I thought bollocks that was the test and I never hit the button! Half way thru the medical woman open the door (who was unaware of my situation as I denied having it), which freaked me out said that I was doing ok but I was taking a while to get them (no shit sherlock haha!) and suggested I look at the floor and close my eyes. Either way I stumbled thru and passed and can forget about it for ten years.
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