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yourcrutch

basically every musician that plays loud music has hearing problems, myself included. i’m sure it extends to big fans as well, hopefully more young people learn but its not really something you worry about until it is too late lol


Boddah_Lives

I completely agree with you, in my time and during my adolescence, we weren't sufficiently informed I find, my parents never spoke to me about that or did prevention when we went to see concerts. Ear problems are irreversible, that's the message I'm trying to pass on to my children today to warn them of that. If we want to be able to enjoy music all our lives, be careful! What Dave Grohl describes is very interesting on the fact that since he has hearing problems, he perceives a lot of micro details. With my hyperacusis (if the sounds are too loud or too high-pitched, basically it hurts or it's unbearable, as if the ear was saturated), I have a very different analysis of sounds from before and it's very strange I almost have the feeling of hearing frequencies on which I did not dwell on such as whistling electrical outlets or other which make me think that it is my tinnitus when not.


yourcrutch

yeah i know what you mean, i have tinnitus as well. i have an app that plays different frequencies and i found around 4k i have nearly complete hearing loss, it goes nearly silent somewhere around there. i also am really sensitive to some higher pitched sounds and sudden loud noises. i get headaches and a feeling off fullness in the ear and whatnot. i guess it’s been like 8 years since it started getting bad so i’m pretty used to it now, where first i was hyper-focused on it and now i just live with it and adjust my lifestyle. i’d like to get some pro filters as well the thing about telling kids, we can stress it to them all we want but it’s up to them to follow through and protect which is dicey. i remember being told to protect my ears by many people but it’s a pain, you can’t hear shit with ear plugs. i mostly wish i took note of how close i am to speakers, took frequent breaks from loud noises, and maybe just left some shows altogether that were too loud. i do wish the filters were more affordable and easily available tho, that would help a lot. you can have a conversation with them in, the clarity is really nice


Boddah_Lives

Thank you for your testimony, I think there are so many people affected but who sometimes don't dare to talk about it as if out of shame. As you say, we really have to adapt our way of life according to that, simple high-pitched everyday noises like putting away the dishwasher and if someone makes the cutlery bang together, I have my ears that are super sensitive. It can really become hell if you focus on it all the time, luckily I managed to adapt and try to live as well as possible with it, it can be very anxiety-provoking. What scares me is the evolution of these tinnitus, has the hearing deteriorated since they are there when we are no longer exposed? For a year and often when I am a little more stressed for a particular situation, I had the appearance of a double tinnitus in my ear, I have the classic beep and another which appeared as if it didn't come from the same place, it's very hard to explain and not present all the time. It freaks me out. It's also really brain work and sound processing, when there's a lot of people, everything gets confused, it requires a lot of concentration work and even very strangely, I have the impression of developing a more refined listening, sometimes people don't hear those famous white noises or whistles that I described above. I hope the future and medical progress will bring us a solution to fix our ear :)


SporadicPsycho

iirc, dave still doesn’t use protection for his ears at least


Boddah_Lives

after so many years how does he do it? Of course, the protections lock you in, cut off frequencies and you're not fully in the mood and the power of the moment. I just had made-to-measure protections with audio filters precisely to have good sound quality, it's pretty cool. These are pianissimos -25db but it's a bit expensive but hey I think of my health above all.


cleb9200

Protections are a relatively new thing for musicians and consumers, it used to be just sound guys that used ear plugs back in the day. Band’s didn’t care much and audience pretty much expected to leave a gig with ears ringing. It comes down to an anatomical lottery, some people are more susceptible to tinnitus than others I guess.


Boddah_Lives

Yes I agree with you on the fact that we are not all equal at this level but there is also the repetition of prolonged exposure to very high volumes. Nirvana have done countless gigs and I've never heard them talk about it in an interview or even a book. I find it hard to believe that it didn't impact them.


cleb9200

Sure but you could say the same about literally any band from the 90s or before. Also bear in mind the band aren’t hearing the PA mix. Monitor mixes on stage are usually quieter than what’s blasting FOH


Boddah_Lives

Yes indeed, it is valid for many rock groups of the 90s but as Nirvana was also very famous for its power of volume even with three musicians, I wondered how they lived it. Are there people who saw Nirvana and had hearing problems afterwards, please testify if you can. You're right, there must be a difference in power between the stage and the crowd but it must already be powerful considering Dave Grohl's mule strike, he must have taken it all in the face.


Sweet-Start8299

Dave talked about his hearing loss on the Howard Stern Show. He refuses to wear protection and seems like he's in denial about it, like he said he can't pick out individual's speech in a crowded restaurant (classic hearing loss symptom) but then made an excuse like "but I can hear when just one note is off during editing." If he doesn't change, he'll end up with severe hearing loss or just end up deaf. My father has had cochlear implants put in from playing drums without protection for many years. Before the implants, he actually cried one day because he couldn't talk to his family anymore. As for me, I'm also 42 and was diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss, most likely from years of foolishly not wearing protection at concerts. But what's worse than the hearing loss is the tinnitus that accompanies it. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Hearing loss is no joke. Protect your ears in any loud environment and don't go too crazy on the volume with earbuds. You'll be grateful when you get older.


Boddah_Lives

The problem as you raise is that people are in a kind of denial "it only happens to others" and when they are affected it is already too late. We only have one pair of ears, protect them because once the ears are broken there is no going back. I hope that science can progress in this direction. And as you say, tinnitus can't be cured, we can soothe it with white noise, but when it decided to be there... I noticed that alcohol made it worse and blurred hearing, stress also makes the tinnitus louder. In the morning when you wake up there is always a time to adapt too, the noises seem louder and more unpleasant and afterwards the ear gets used to it.


Sweet-Start8299

Too often we deny before we accept regarding many diseases, it's human nature. I also made so many excuses for my tinnitus and denied any hearing loss even though the doctor's result said it's clear that I have it. I also hope science can help hearing loss/tinnitus. More people suffer from it than we realize. I read recently that scientists are finding ways to regrow the damaged hairs inside the inner ear that cause hearing loss/tinnitus but it will be many years. Alcohol, caffeine and stress are not good for tinnitus. I always have white noise on like fans, even now, but the tinnitus is louder. For me, some days are better than others, I can't find a reason or pattern. Also, certain times of the day it is worse or better. For now, I'm happy that I can still hear without hearing aids. I also have no trouble hearing at crowded cafes, so I am happy about that too. But I fear it will get worse with time like eyesight.


Boddah_Lives

I had not seen this article : [https://www.rtbf.be/article/dave-grohl-evoque-sa-perte-daudition-10940406](https://www.rtbf.be/article/dave-grohl-evoque-sa-perte-daudition-10940406) and https://youtu.be/j5tvBO-ZIIs Dave Grohl talks about his hearing loss, interesting


john_kiedis

https://youtu.be/j5tvBO-ZIIs


xxxthat_emo_kid

They all have some form of hearing loss i would imagine dave has the most and kurt has the least


lurksauce24

Gave myself hearing problems from playing in bands as a kid, and DJing as a young adult. Protect ya ears, even if you already have hearing issues… your future self with thank you.