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Hearing Loss and Ear Plugs

#1,121
I use Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs, they don't muffle the sound, you can still hear highs but everything is lower in volume. Concerts sound way better too than when not wearing them. I'm 38 and have been wearing ear plugs at practice for the last 8 years, thankfully because the band I'm in uses plugs and recommended it when I met them way back then.

Now I didn't always wear earplugs and I am paying the price for it. Twice in the last 2 years I experienced a few weeks of temporary pulsatitis. I can hear my heart beat in my left ear in the form of a whooshing pulse. Fortunately it's gone now. I am however missing some high and low frequencies in that ear. I'm hoping it's compacted ear wax from using the ear plugs, but I don't know for sure. There's always wax in the ear plugs when I remove them so hopefully that's all it is. In my right ear, sometimes but not often, I get temporary tinitus, I hear a tone, but if I focus in on it real hard, it goes away in less than a minute.

If I didn't wear ear plugs, I'd imagine I'd be worse off. Sucks at 38 to already have issues, but at least I'm aware of how important the plugs are now.
 
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#1,124
RG said:
I too have abused my ears over the years and now I use ear plugs when I am exposed to high volume. I have tried many different kinds and still search for the perfect pair. I've considered going to a hearing aid shop to possibly be fitted for a pair. Has anyone done this? Any advice ?

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the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
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Get ear filters. Do Not use ear plugs. Ever noticed the ear plugs give you a muffled sound? Those frequencies that are missing are the only ones your plugs are protecting you from.

Filters protect you from most frequencies in equal measure giving you a much more natural sound. I use 25dB cut filters, but consult your audiologist for the best level of protection you need.
 
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#1,125
dbsfgyd1 said:
Get ear filters. Do Not use ear plugs. Ever noticed the ear plugs give you a muffled sound? Those frequencies that are missing are the only ones your plugs are protecting you from.

Filters protect you from most frequencies in equal measure giving you a much more natural sound. I use 25dB cut filters, but consult your audiologist for the best level of protection you need.
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I have er-9's and er-15's and find the 15's are a bit more "muffled"...do the er-25's filter more evenly across the spectrum?
 
#1,126
FirewalZ said:
I have er-9's and er-15's and find the 15's are a bit more "muffled"...do the er-25's filter more evenly across the spectrum?
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I have Westone filters both 15 and 25 cuts. Not much difference in the muffle factor between them. In fact, these are pretty clean filters, almost no muffle at all. The -25dB cut is significantly quieter.

A little pricey. I paid about $75 a pair for just the filters plus the exam and fitting. But they do work and do provide much better protection than ear plugs.
 
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#1,127
dbsfgyd1 said:
I have Westone filters both 15 and 25 cuts. Not much difference in the muffle factor between them. In fact, these are pretty clean filters, almost no muffle at all. The -25dB cut is significantly quieter.

A little pricey. I paid about $75 a pair for just the filters plus the exam and fitting. But they do work and do provide much better protection than ear plugs.
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The big thing I noticed was the highs and upper mids are less pronounced, still way better that the foam plugs however. I was just thinking the 25’s may be better for really loud occasions, and was wondering if they sounded similar to the 15’s.
 
#1,130
Boplicity said:
As it is, I have permanent tinnitis. What is that? I'll tell you...
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WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE should we start a Tinnitus club? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEE speak up mate, all I can hear is a snare drum from 20 years ago EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Get some ear plugs and use them in both ears. My tinnitus is worse in the ear that was pointing away from the drums because I didn't always wear the earplug in that ear. 18-year old idiot me wanted to hear the pure, unadulterated sound and now 45-year old me literally cannot hear a 'pure' sound.
 
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#1,131
There's been a lot of research that ties hearing loss to dementia (though harder to know which is causative). Regardless, hearing protection may help you far longer term than just hearing.

As someone who's already had a younger former coworker die of dementia-related side effects, plus as someone who is a caretaker for someone with dementia, you do not want this.

(After reading several of the hearing loss/dementia papers, my best understanding is that it's related to hearing loss making some of the neural pathways less used. I know from other neuroscience reading that the brain reaps connections that are unused as a power conservation measure, so that would accelerate brain volume loss.)
 
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#1,132
deirdresm said:
There's been a lot of research that ties hearing loss to dementia (though harder to know which is causative). Regardless, hearing protection may help you far longer term than just hearing.

As someone who's already had a younger former coworker die of dementia-related side effects, plus as someone who is a caretaker for someone with dementia, you do not want this.

(After reading several of the hearing loss/dementia papers, my best understanding is that it's related to hearing loss making some of the neural pathways less used. I know from other neuroscience reading that the brain reaps connections that are unused as a power conservation measure, so that would accelerate brain volume loss.)
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I recently read a similar paper too. Patients around 40% hearing loss starts to use neaural pathways a lot less causing regression and It is suspected to be one of the common triggers of early dementia. Hearing aid is actually getting that neural pathways active again in a short time. I also lost someone to dementia and wish I heard of this or any extra detail that would help. Don't skip hearing aids :thumbsup:
 
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#1,133
Also meant to add in that comment a few months ago, based on a lot of my reading:

Part of the problem with aging is literally not having the same power production as you used to for your brain. So connections have to go in order to be able to supply power to the most critical parts of your brain.

Add to this that people in the last year of their lives sometimes lose 10% or more of their body weight (thus, taking in less nutrients that would help generate power), and that doesn't help either. Also, tastes often revert to early in life, sometimes including *massive* carb cravings (taking the place of protein cravings). Like: eat sugar straight out of the bowl by the spoonful sort.

Protecting your hearing helps preserve at least that one axis of brain function.
 
#1,134
OtherBarry said:
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE should we start a Tinnitus club? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEE speak up mate, all I can hear is a snare drum from 20 years ago EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Get some ear plugs and use them in both ears. My tinnitus is worse in the ear that was pointing away from the drums because I didn't always wear the earplug in that ear. 18-year old idiot me wanted to hear the pure, unadulterated sound and now 45-year old me literally cannot hear a 'pure' sound.
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What OtherBarry just said. Turn down, put in earplugs before you even get into the area where the band is rehearsing or setting up, or be prepared to never being able to hear the music clearly, over the ringing.
 
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#1,137
hangman said:
That was an article from last year. Unfortunately the Link Removed.
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Yeah, I focused on the date after I posted the article & figured out it was reprinted by the news site (slow day for good news?). Always read the fine print, especially when you see a title you want to agree with - even on the Internet.

Thanks for putting out a follow-up - I should have done it when I noticed the date. I’ll check out the link & get more details. Upshot is a failed experiment is an opportunity to learn from.
 
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#1,138
This is a great conversation. I do have ringing in my ears, but I can live with it. For sure, some of the arguments relating ringing to "muscle stress" in the head are valid. I can make most of the ringing go away through targeted relaxation.

I've been wearing earplugs (not filters) for years with my band. Some things are muffled, but with these Flare Isolate plugs, I find I could get just the right amount of real sound and protection. I much prefer(red) to hear less of everything, than way too much of everything. I can't believe anyone in my band would choose to not wear earplugs.

For the past two years, I've been using a pair of Shure SE425 in-ear monitors, connected from my DI pedal to a headphone amp with volume control. They offer great isolation. I could hear me clearly without being loud, and the others "just enough." Now, we're all going to use in-ear monitors with a wireless set up that lets you adjust how much of everyone else you want to hear. Only used it once so far, but I think it's going to be an excellent solution.
 
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#1,139
When I started to notice some hearing loss I got a pair of Soundbrenner Minuendo ear plugs. They are, passive, adjustable from -7 to -25dB and attenuate the volume but largely do not affect the quality of sound except a bit of the highest frequencies at the 25dB setting.
I highly recommend them for musicians concerned about their hearing.
 

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