Is tinnitus going to mess me up?

[tomwest1988]

Hi, for as long as I can remember I've always had a ringing in my ears. Most of the time I don't even notice it, but if I'm in a quiet room or if I try to listen for it I can always hear it. I always thought this was completely normal and that everybody had it, but I recently decided I wanted to start making music and read some stuff online about tinnitus. Over the past days I've started to stress about it and I feel like its gotten worse, so maybe its partly mental. Will tinnitus make it hard for me to produce music? Does anyone else have ringing in their ears?

Also, I know people will tell me to go see a doctor, but is there anything a doctor can do about it?



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[Phill2]

I've had it for years and unfortunately there's no cure.
I don't think it will upset your music though.

[RVP]

My tinnitus started sometime in 2009 I believe, went to the Drs in the first 2 weeks and she said it would go away on it's own.. it never did. Now I've learnt to deal with it. It gets louder randomly, or when I am stressed and will go back to its normal range of tone. Although, when I am listening to music or have earphones in I don't necessarily hear it then as the music will always be louder.

It shouldn't effect your ability to produce music I wouldn't have thought so, unless of course you can hear it whilst you're listening to music. I do think our ears are sensitive due to tinnitus. I got married in September and the DJ's speakers were so loud, for a week my ears were blocked.

[ankietyjoe]

No it won't stop you making music. Tinnitus is extremely common, even more so among musicians.

[MrLurcher]

No it wont mess you up, and believe me when I say that, because I was in your position 5/6 years ago. When I first noticed it, in my left ear, I panicked and it stressed me out for weeks. I swear the noise was five times louder back then than it is now. But even these days it ‘flares’ up and gets louder for a few hours or days before settling back down.

Unfortunately being mainly a drummer, I probably abused my ears a lot when younger. I used to practice 2/3 hours daily with music blasting in my headphones. Then I went on to play live, and also do sound engineering in gigs.

So after noticing it, I began using ear protection, and its kept my ears from further damage. And at night I sleep with the radio on sometimes, so that helps.

So, dont stress about it, as that WILL make it worse. You will learn to live with it, I promise. And when making music, just learn to look after your ears if you feel you need to. I record sometimes, and play live - its fine. Remember, worrying will always worsen sensations and symptoms!