Guitar specific tinnitus

Johnny333

Sadly, I'm sure many of you reading this are also tinnitus sufferers. For myself it's been around 10 years, worse in the left ear and most likely caused by gigs, guitar, and (most depressingly) university club nights. Over this time I've noticed its severity fluctuates and I think I've identified the main culprit. Unfortunately for me this appears to be guitar tones. 

I can listen to music for long periods of time, at decent (but not loud) volumes with no significant effect, however, if I play guitar (particularly overdriven electric tones) even at very low (considerate neighbour) levels, this seems to have a major impact of my tinnitus. I'm really curious if any of you have experienced anything similar, and if you've discovered anything that helps?

strtdv

It would be interesting to get an audiology assessment and see it you've got hearing loss and at what frequencies those are at, and whether they correspond to guitar tones.

I think transients have a lot to do with it too, you've a tiny muscle in your ear (stapedius) which basically stabilises one of the bones involved in sound transfer and helps protect the ear from loud noises, however they don't work as well on transients as they don't have time to respond. Recorded music will have a lot of those removed from the mix, but a guitar amp produces a lot of them.
I also would reckon that if you set a dB meter in front of your "neighbour friendly" guitar amp you'd be surprised at how loud it actually is.

Fortunately I used musicians earplugs during most of my gigging days, but I still have a bit of hearing loss and mild tinnitus.
These days most of my guitar playing is through headphones which isolate a lot of background noise so you can get the sense of immersion without having the volume too high.

Johnny333

strtdv said:

It would be interesting to get an audiology assessment and see it you've got hearing loss and at what frequencies those are at, and whether they correspond to guitar tones.

I think transients have a lot to do with it too, you've a tiny muscle in your ear (stapedius) which basically stabilises one of the bones involved in sound transfer and helps protect the ear from loud noises, however they don't work as well on transients as they don't have time to respond. Recorded music will have a lot of those removed from the mix, but a guitar amp produces a lot of them.
I also would reckon that if you set a dB meter in front of your "neighbour friendly" guitar amp you'd be surprised at how loud it actually is.

Fortunately I used musicians earplugs during most of my gigging days, but I still have a bit of hearing loss and mild tinnitus.
These days most of my guitar playing is through headphones which isolate a lot of background noise so you can get the sense of immersion without having the volume too high.

Thanks so much mate, I haven't had any audiology assessment so will look into that. Also had heard of transients but never understood them so appreciate you sharing this knowledge. 

Still interested to see if anyone has had a similar experience as would be surprised if I'm the only one! 

Roland

One of the little appreciated aspects of hearing is how much work your brain does in processing the audio signal from your ears. I've had tinnitus as far back as I can remember, certainly before the age of five. As a young child I thought that it was part of the hearing system, like static on an AM radio. I learned to ignore it. That's the main way to deal with tinnitus, despite what the internet says about miracle cures.

A couple of years ago I was listening to Steve Reich's "In C". It's a piece where you have to listen carefully to appreciate what's going on. My tinnitus became very apparent because I was listening so intently. I put this down to my brain relaxing it's block on the high pitched frequencies. It could be that you listen more actively to your guitar playing that you do to everyday sounds, and your brain responds accordingly.

I'm not knocking the impact of transients on the stapedius also being part of what's happening. With continual loud noise the muscle cramps up, and lessens the amount of movement getting through to the cochlea, protecting it from damage. Anyone who has been in a loud environment knows that deadening when they come back out. Usually it goes away in an hour or two. If your hearing is deadened the next day, but recovers over a week, then this is thought to be actual cochlea damage, and the recovery is your brain learning to compensate for the loss of higher frequencies.

Johnny333

Hi Roland, thanks so much for your comment. I genuinely found that a fascinating perspective as I'd never thought about it that way and it actually makes a lot of sense. In addition to playing guitar, I often also experience more tinnitus after listening through headphones (when I tend to be more 'tuned in' than my usual 'listening' state), so that would line up with the theory. And playing distorted guitar through headphones certainly seems be the worst combination! I've also noticed a strong correlation with stress, which again points to the psychological link, though it could be a separate or combined factor.

Really sorry to hear you've been suffering with it for so long, and thanks again for the insight

Roland

Don’t forget that it is easy to have headphones/earbuds too loud.

imalrightjack

I can now hear my tinnitus very clearly at rehearsal while wearing custom ear plugs, to the point it’s quite distracting. It’s been present since teens (now 48) with occasional bursts (attacks - when you suddenly get a blast that stops me in my tracks).

I had my hearing checked and it’s fine. But I do find myself more often struggling with tv and film audio. And the tinnitus can be draining. Mindfulness helps. Accepting it’s there and rolling with it. 

PLOP

I’ve also had tinnitus for a long time, but I know where it originated, and I didn’t even have fun doing it. I had a blocked ear when I was 17, and got both ears syringed. Tinnitus ever since, and I hate it. Hate it. I will never know what silence really is again. 

I’m extra careful now with sound. I’ve used plugs at gigs almost every time, there was probably 3-6 gigs I went to without plugs early on, and some  loud bar environments at uni too. But the tinnitus was present well before then. 

TheMadMick

I note that this is worse in one ear than the other. I have the same problem and was diagnosed with mild Menier's disease. It's incurable but you can stop it getting worse with Serc 16 (Betahistine dihydrochloride). You'll need an ENT assessment to determine if this is the case. It seems to work by reducing the pressure on your cochlea by allowing fluid to drain.

Go see your doctor. At least it may be controllable.

57Deluxe

...both my parents had it and never once went to a rock concert! It came on for me about 14 years back when I thought my laptop fan was constantly on, only to realise was in my head!

The downside is after 15 mins of guitar time, the top frequencies dull, so if auditioning for a tone or setup, is best to go and give ears a rest and come back next day.

Avoid supplements etc, as the irreprable damage to cochlea ear hairs has already been done and the noise we 'hear' is actually the brain attempting  to (over) compensate for frequency information it expects to receive but is of course now missing.

Johnny333

Thanks for all the insights everyone. Really interesting info.

Strumit

I remember folks discussing a "tribute" band, with some saying how good they were and others that they were "Rubbish".  All the folks that were discussing were of a certain age and the majority were either deaf or had hearing aids.  I know how I struggled to get a certain sound, when I already had it according to listeners!  My tinnitus fluctuates from a low hiss to something like an aircraft engine.  The audiologist said that I have areas of missing frequencies, so well worth a visit (free on NHS).  Some hearing aids can be "tuned" for tinnitus sufferers.

borntohang

I've had top-end loss for a couple of years but it's finally settled into the dreaded tone over the last few months. Very frustrating as I wear plugs nearly everywhere and have done since I was 18 - work, gigs, club nights, even to the pub if it's busy. Pretty sure I know which gig caused it as I had a badly fitted IEM in that ear, but not much I can do now!

inewham

I have it from riding motorbikes (wind noise not exhaust noise) there's a dip in my hearing at 4k which my brain fills with a high whine. I went to our local NHS hearing centre, they did a test which identified the dip and they gave me a hearing aid which boosts frequencies around 4k.
The great thing is I don't need to wear it all the time, a couple of days wearing the hearing aid mostly shuts up the whine for a day or two (comparatively).
Oh and the hearing aid, batteries and parts are free so you don't have to spend a fortune at Boots, Specsavers etc. (no it's not some huge beige NHS think like Morriseys)
Talk to your doctor and get referred, it might help.

icu81b4

@Johnny333 ;
Check to see if your local NHS has a tinnitus clinic/meeting schedule as I get regular updates on any progress developments through them.

You can get all the info you need here …
https://tinnitus.org.uk/

Johnny333

Thank you all, that's really helpful and I'll definitely set up an appointment!