What to do with my life now?

I play drums in a band, and music is really all I want to do. Obviously playing drums isn't good for T, and I wear basic hearing protection. My ears ring like fucking crazy after a gig, and right now I hear a ringing in my left ear that just cuts through everything. Nothing is drowning it out.

I don't really know what to do anymore though. I want to play music but I don't want to go deaf, and music is all I want to do. Guess its time to go back to yet another, useless, uncaring, unpatient, ENT who will rush me out the door with the first thing he can think of! yup!

 

Is music what you do for a living? Im sorry to tell you this but when you look at sportsmen who do sports for a living then after serious injuries they also often have to quit. In music the injuries normally involve ears and if they are serious and plugs dont help then unless you want it to get worse you obviously just cant do it. But maybe you could switch to acousti music instead, maybe learn a new instrument?

 

Id go for the complete opposite advice of Stina. What do you mean by "basic hearing protection"?

If you want to keep doing what you love, invest in some proper protection, check out custom molded earplugs, Etymotic Research do some brilliant ones, their ER25s are expensive, but they reduce the volume while keeping the music clear

 

There are ways to work around it. Drummers always need to wear hearing protection though, get some high quality ear plugs (Etymotic, ACS, etc - really any custom musician plugs will do) and use the highest protection available - I think with the filters the maximum attenuation is 25db but I'm pretty sure Etymotic also do solid inserts which I think were 33db or something close to that number. You can even try a combo of ear plugs and ear muffs and see how that goes, it might be harder to "feel" out how your drumming but I'm sure with enough practice you'd get a good handle it on pretty quickly. If that doesn't work, maybe try a electronic kit? I know it's a completely different thing but if you love doing something you need to try figure something out!

Having said that I feel for you buddy, tinnitus and hyperacusis have made my musical ambitions much more difficult to pursue but I keep at it and I'm trying to be as smart as I can about it. Hope your ears calm down a bit buddy!

Actually, were you the guy who said they had a tinnitus spike recently because you did a bit of practice without ear plugs? Can't remember if I replied to the thread, but I think you might benefit getting on some oral steroids (prednisone) ASAP - might not work but it's worth a shot since it's a recent spike.

 

I play drums too.. Its what caused my T in november.. Along with a guitar blasting.. And havent played since :-(.. Too scared but i like the advice of yonkapin said ^^^ im gettin a electronnic one cause its not as loud and you can adjust the volume.. And gettin good earplugs with earmuffs too should work too!!! Then again im not in a band but even if you have to take some time off.. It couldnt hurt.

 

Phil Collins gave up his musical career because of his tinnitus and you may to as well. I am constantly amazed by people who know what is damaging their hearing and causing their tinnitus and keep on just doing the same thing. By all means make youw own choice but also take responsibility for those choices.

 

So basically let tinnitus control my life? whats the point of even being alive then?

 

You can still drum with T. Just get some quality ear plugs to protect your ears from getting worse. There are lots of drummers and other musicians with T, still playing music.

 

I suppose it really depends on the point of view. On the one hand, if you stop playing then yes, you are letting tinnitus control your life. On the other hand, if you continue playing, you are letting the cultural custom of playing music out ridiculously loud (I suppose at gigs it could be around 100 db?) control your life and health. However, maybe you simply havent used very good protection and with better attributes you are able to continue