New Here... DJ/Musician for Many Years

Hi Guys,

I have been dealing with ear problems for a while. I will start from the beginning so you have a better understanding.

I have been djing since 2008. In 2011 I went to europe for a gig.. My Hearing was fine when I went.. After my show I flew to Amsterdam to go to a Festival. I didn't have ear plugs because I never had issues before(I know stupid of me but there was no awareness really at the time like there is now in my scene...). When I was flying back home on the second leg from JFK airport to San Antonio I started to catch a cold and when I landed my left year did not want to equalize and it hurt really bad and it was like I went deaf in the left ear and I got really scared. I scheduled an appointment asap and they tested my hearing( to 8khz) and removed wax from my ears and recommended I get ear plugs. I got musician ear plugs with 25db filters. I had another gig in houston when I first received the plugs and all went well.. A few months last my ears started to get hyper sensitive.. had a couple gigs to finish the year and then it is now 2012 and now I have sensitive hearing and tinnitus. I just wore my ear plugs everywhere to avoid the sensitivity... not sure if that made things worse... because my brain adjusted to that reduction... and the tinnitus was not that bad at the time.. since then my hearing has also degraded rapidly... The audiologist I go to says I am fine.. but I don't think he is correct... I can not properly hear music.. It does not sound as clear.. And the hearing test only goes up to 8k ... It sounds like I have everything above 12khz gone... I also have these weird pains / stuffed up feelings in my ears... sometimes a weird feeling going down from my ear down the side of my neck and I feel it when I swallow. I found another audiologist that does testing up to 22khz... I am going to schedule an appointment soon to see what I have lost... It sucks cause it is difficult to produce music right now... I miss so many sounds when I am listening to a track... and it is hard to seperate the instruments when they are all playing together.. so when I am djing and mixing 2 songs it can be difficult. I feel like I need to turn the headphones up louder to hear the kickdrum better so I can mix. I also notice when I am in the shower it sound so dull and like I am missing alot of the shower head sound... I still have memory when I was like 20 years old(28 now) and my hearing was perfect and all sounds from all sources sounded fine...

My question is... do you guys think this is some other problem other than just losing hair cells? Maybe it is some bone issue in my ear or tmj? I always feel this need to pop my ears. Would hearing aids help me? I am so confused and depressed. I am gonna try some vitamins to see if that helps with the tinnitus..(it comes and goes alot btw) I am more concerned on restoring my hearing to something that works. Also I would like to point out I have even rested my ears for like 3-4 days straight with not listening to anything just staying home and reading things on the internet and playing some video games... it seems like alot of issues go away.. but once I start listening to something again(at low volumes) it is like my ears just get tired super fast, tinnitus flares up again.. and I have random pains and fullness.

Thanks

Noel

 

Noel this has been my question since the beginning so many people have had neck problems and jaw./It is somatic and connected to T in someway.I am a musician many years so hearing loss is an issue but I don't think it is the complete cause of tinnitus .It may be one trigger but the main cause I believe is in the brain.Over hyper neurons somewhere or in many parts including the somatic pathways.It kinda gets stuck on play mode and the brain rewires to this and our minds start to believe we hear T .So our brain believes this is what we should hear.So mind over mater can work but is so hard to do.Thank God over time the brain starts to kinda ignore it.Habituation.But pains and sensations are part of the somatic pathways.It is like touch nerves are trying to take over the audio pathways .The key is what AUT00063 is about calming down those neurons. They are right on the verge of finding a very good drug to lesson T or cure it.Very close to other cures for other ailments connected to similar research.And You have what is called Hyperacusis.I believe everyone with T has it at some degree.It is supposed to get better in time also but can flare up.The only good thing about having T and H is that we can learn to deal with it before a flood of the rest of the population gets T.It is gonna be an epidemic of this type disorder because of many factors in the modern world.But hopfully they will get a drug out to combat it soon.Noel hope your hearing improves .Music is a special thing in life .I have stopped playing professionally but will never stop playing even if I lose some of my hearing.Makes be admire beethoven even more due to his hearing loss and still wrote great music.

 

Yea I hope I can get it fixed so I can continue with Music... Else I might have to give it up.

 

@Noel Castillo, Hey I think there might be a connection with TMJ, because of some of the sensations you described. Believe it or not but TMJ and impacted wisdom teeth can play a major role in T because it presses against the nerves and affects the facial and ear muscles as well. At first I was in disbelief that teeth related issues can effect the ear but its possible because as a dentist once told me, everything is connected to each other so what effects one thing effects the other. I was told that added to my T and H that I have TMJ as well, the doc checks this out by evaluating your jaw, you should check that out if you haven't already.

 

Hang in there mate , musician here as well. Was very tough in the beginning , maybe especially when you have trained ears and even taking a leak sounds different. I miss the top end a lot as well but have come to realize that I can make music and I will continues doing that . As for the hypercusis , maybe try out Retagabine (you can find a discussion and a lot of info on this site ) It seems to help a lot with hypercusis althoug we were looking for something for T.

 

Have any of you noticed weird things with caffeine?? Alot of people say to stay away from caffeine because it will make your T worse.. IT actually takes mine away.... Which I think is really weird but as it wears off it starts to come back again. :/

 

@Noel Castillo I feel you man. I am another Musician here. If you message me I'd be happy to talk with you about some ways I deal with the T and H issue. I feel like I could help and would be happy to Skype or chat on the phone. Hit me up and hang in there.

 

Caffeine will not make your T worse. There is no evidence that food or drink or lack there of affects T in any way. However, everyone is different and we all have different triggers. When tinnitus and hyperacusis are new, everything seems to affect it in some way or another. That usually changes in time. Definitely sounds like you also have hyperacusis. I have dealt with it in the past and sometimes it is even worse than tinnitus.

The best thing you can do for yourself is take a break from DJing and give your ears some time to heal and adjust. Hyperacusis usually improves in time, you just need to protect your ears in super loud environments. Even some damage can improve over time and you may regain some of your lost upper frequencies. The important thing is to give your brain time to adjust to the hyperacusis and reset you hearing, protect your ears from further damage (but don't over protect) and try not to panic. It is new now but in time things will calm.

 

@erik you say to not over protect? What do you mean by that? Does reducing too many db's harm your hearing? @SoulStation can you send me your skype in a message? thanks

 

I am sorry to hear about your trouble. I am convinced my 12 years of tinnitus was from going to night clubs, concerts, etc.. and not wearing ear plugs in loud places. Have you ever requested an MRI scan of your ears? If there was anything sinister like a benign tumour or whatever it would highlight it.

I don't know enough of your situation but what I have learned is this. Your ears, just like any other organ in your body have to do you for life. If you're 28 now, what would another 28 years of listening to loud music, etc.. do to your 56th year? Personally, I would consider giving it up however I appreciate it is probably a real love for you. Difficult one if so.

Concerning the muffled sounds, etc.. are you sure you don't have inner ear effusion (fluid)? If your physician is saying your ears are fine but you know they are not, get a second, third, etc.. opinion.

Finally, what is good for your ears and everything else is exercise and lots of it. It helps with blood flow amongst other things. Stimulants of tinnitus are caffeine, alcohol, salt and I'm told 'ginger'.

Best of luck to you, I wish you well.

 

Just on the above, if you like alcohol, I would go for a glass of red wine, as at least it's an antioxidant, which may help.

 

Guys I have been doing a vitamin treatment I saw online. It is definitely helping with pain and my T. Of Course my hearing still sounds jacked up(muffled). I am hoping after a week it will improve. I am attaching a screenshot of what I purchased. I am glad it is calming my T down at least.

 

You want to try NAC and Alpha Lipoic Acid as well as Magnesium (in citrate form). All of these things are good for hearing.

 

Sounds silly but have you treated your ears for wax? You can buy the fluid for it in wee bottles from the pharmacy. Six treatments over 3 days, it normally all comes out then in the shower.

 

@scankaroo I actually get them cleaned at the audiologist every 3 months because I have musicians ear plugs and they push the wax down so I have to get them cleaned.

 

Hows your T Noel?