will.i.am Suffers from Tinnitus? How Can He Be in Loud Environments?

I saw him yesterday dancing and singing in an extremely loud concert for the final game champion!

Shouldn't we avoid loud environment?

He said by himself that he is a tinnitus sufferer.

 

I'm guessing he is protecting his ears. I was also thinking the exact same thing while waiting for the final to be played and saw him on stage. He said on an interview (on youtube) that he just surrounds himself with music and sound all the time to the level that he never hears his T. I don't know how he sleeps tho.

 

I've met other T sufferers who don't have all the anxiety that many have and just go on living their lives. They've learned to let the T not bother them.

 

i saw few pics were he was wearing those large pink foam earplugs

 

Tinnitus comes in many forms and intensities and no two people experience it the same. Most people learn to live with it after a while and this we know as habituation. There are some people that have it very severe and need to take medication like: clonazepam to cope. Please do not be fooled when some celebrities say, they have tinnitus and are able to carry on as if it is nothing and surround themselves with music (some times loud) and it's no problem at all. These people do not have loud intrusive tinnitus that is debilitating, like some members of tinnitus talk experience which is a completely different type of condition.

Michael

 

Thank you for your reply but i suppose he takes some medicine or his T goes to the ceiling! Many of us have their own tinnitus worsened a lot after being exposed second time to loud noise

 

The downside of learning to not let T bother them is that some of them eventually end up with disabling T. Right?

 

He may have loud intrusive tinnitus but not consider it debilitating. In my own experience speaking with people IRL with tinnitus, many described it as quite loud. However, none considered it debilitating. It made me realize that while I cannot fully control my tinnitus, I can control my response to it.

 

I was medically retired from my job many years ago because my tinnitus was very debilitating and still is on occasions. Anyone that says they have loud intrusive tinnitus and says it is not debilitating, they clearly haven't experienced it loud enough for it to be debilitating I assure you. Just Google tinnitus and you will see the amount of people that have committed suicide because they have found the condition to be: distressing and debilitating. I suspect that you have never had to take clonazepam or similar medication that is sometimes prescribed for people with distressing tinnitus? Well I have and have it on prescription.

I have had tinnitus for over 20 years and have counselled many people with it. With respect, you have had tinnitus since February 2017. When you say that you can control your response to your tinnitus. I agree but only up to a point, I assure you. If you get tinnitus the right way then you will know what I and others in this forum are talking about, when we say tinnitus is: loud, intrusive and debilitating.

Michael

 

Not for anyone that I have personally spoken with. Can you quantify some? Of course it could happen to some people but so can many other things.

From an anecdotal perspective, which is obviously not concrete statistical data, I know three people with tinnitus from acoustical trauma that continued to work in professions that daily exposed them to extremely loud noises. 40+ years later, none have what they would consider disabling tinnitus.

 

Believe me. The person that you are talking about, if he has intrusive tinnitus then he would be more careful of being around loud noise. I have counselled people over the telephone crying because of the distress they are in. Tinnitus is not easy as some people would like others to believe when it is severe.

Michael

 

He suffer from tinnitus, but how loud is his tinnitus? Not all tinnitus sounds/levels are the same....

 

There are posts after posts after posts on this site where people talk about temporary and permanent spikes following a second noise exposure, with that second noise often being something that healthy people wouldn't even think twice about.

 

Respect to you @fishbone Some people who have had tinnitus for just 5 mins come onto this forum making comments about tinnitus and they know nothing about it. What they have is just a little background noise that they will soon habituate to. They think what they are experiencing is the same for everyone else. They have no idea what: loud intrusive tinnitus is.
Michael

 

Michael: why would you be medically retired if you had TRT with "good results" as per your own words?

Makes no sense.

 

The right way? Oh there is a right way to have tinnitus? How silly of me to not know that my tinnitus isn't right despite hearing it over everything. Everything from the shower to sounds outside. I have hyperacusis that makes even the sound of papers shuffling absurd. The volume of my tinnitus spikes continually. Sometimes I cannot hear people speak over the volume of it.

Taking medication does not mean a person's tinnitus is worse than others. It means they have different coping methods. Not taking medication does not mean a person is mentally stronger than someone else, again it just means they have different coping methods.

I would actually like to take medication but cannot thanks to a heart condition, which leaves me having to find other coping methods.

If we both had terminal cancer and you took medication to better cope with the stress/anxiety/depression but I did not, would you say your cancer was worse than mine?

 

@Tinker Bell
Please forgive me I don't mean to be flippant, but you don't understand tinnitus the way that I and others do that are seasoned to the condition. When you have earned your spurs, to put it kindly then we'll talk about tinnitus.
I wish you well.
Michael

 

Most of them remain with the mild t. Luck? Healthy brains? Who knows...

 

I agree with you on that one.....

 

So I should not talk about tinnitus unless I have suffered for years? You can make assumptions about my tinnitus volume, medications I take, and mental health -- but woe to me if I suggest someone can have intrusive tinnitus but live their life.

For a suppport forum that daily welcomes new members who have recently acquired tinnitus and are likely scared and looking for hope, your response is an awful response.

 

Tinnitus can be any sound and any strength and multi tones in one or both ears and head.
Mild tinnitus can be irritating and hard to deal with just as much reaction by someone with sever tinnitus and also goes by how long you have had tinnitus and adapt to the unwanted emotions along with the sound itself and maybe Hyperacusis.
It also depends on your life also -

1,Teenagers looking ahead with the thought of tinnitus for life..not knowing time with tinnitus it does get easier to cope.
Young parents trying juggle jobs,home life,getting enough sleep etc.
Peoples jobs,
People living alone and carnt get out.
Deaf with tinnitus
Tinnitus caused by ear conditions like myself with Menieres
There are alot of others like being born with tinnitus.
Some people adapt and live a normal life.
Some habituate but just about tolerate it.
Some get really bad times that you just carn't adapt to as it's just to overwhelming and need a lot of support-medications, maskers,hearing aids and sound therapy .

We are all unique and we all differ to how we suffer and cope and I don't think its who's is the loudest but the other factors play a big part in it also especially if have other health problems also to deal with.

It's here people come for support but tinnitus can break the strongest of people at any level or get the support to cope better...
My last week has been tough going but had the best day ever earlier in the week with my grandson ....
Tinnitus torture for some but most people do adapt and just find spikes hard.
Love glynis

 

Was he just there or was he performing. If he's performing than maybe if he needs ear protection the crowd should be offered some too.

 

I'm sure Will.i.am has his own way of dealing with tinnitus but I'm sure struggles with spikes too and has hearing protection .
Love glynis

 

Incredibly well said. There are so many factors that contribute to how someone copes. It's ridiculous to assume that because they are not doing XYZ, that their tinnitus is not loud to them. It's a very personal and individualized condition.

Absolutely. I doubt anyone on this thread personally knows Will.i.am so how can we say that he does not struggle in his own way?

 

GOOD! He deserves it. How many lives has he effected by blasting people's ears. It's ludicrous that this is permitted.

Imagine a scenario where, instead of sound, intense lights are blasted into the audience, permanently damaging their eyes. They should have known to wear sunglasses, right? No legal requirements or liability there. Oh, and children are allowed to attend. Would this be acceptable to society?

 

I am not one to wish discomfort on a person but I abhor anyone that claims they know what loud intrusive tinnitus is and believes it is nothing because they haven't a clue. Well said @TuneOut Without doubt this kind of knowledge can only come from someone that has experience of tinnitus when it is loud and intrusive and knows how debilitating it can be.
Michael

 

We do not know how loud his T is. But if it was in someway really intrusive then I guess he would be more anti headphones and loud noise in general. My opinion though. Maybe he has it worse than me. Who knows.

 

@TuneOut,
Nobody deserves tinnitus.
It's Will.I.am's job as so is all the pop stars and groups from the very beginning.
It's the awareness of ear conditions like tinnitus and getting people use protection and restricting accsess around their mega speakers.
Tinnitus"what's that?"
Not many people know about it till it's to late.......
We need the world to take note 'ears need protecting around loud sound and making them bright and flash could be a new fashion.
Love glynis

 

He was performing. If you go to places like that you bring ur own earplugs with u tbh.
As for Will...I simply think he doesn't care or gets bothered by his T. I don't know to what degree it is, if it's mild or severe..but anyhow.

 

I have tinnitus at a level you can't block out. It's a loud screech like a train screeching to a stop. It can't be masked by anything. Music, drills and traffic don't touch it. And I've habituated. Not showing off, but just want people to realize it can be done even when very loud.