Whistles and Tinnitus

[Raggle Taggle]

New beginner here - about 1 month of pure fun!

I suffer, as many do, from Tinnitus (Insert joke here "Why would you need to play a whistle, when you have you own internal whistle?" LOL.)

I have quiet whistes - Ssshh tweaked Gen, Dixon Trad and Freeman Blackbird. They still sound loud to me particularly that second octave. It is hard to say if the whistles excaberate my Tinnitus or not at this point since i have had fairly consistant ringing for several years. Are there other whistlers with any experiences with T that has worsened over time because of their playing?

And in general, are there concerns about hearing loss in the whistle community? Are ear plugs used to any degree?

[crookedtune]

Unfortunately, yes, I acquired 'T' about eight years ago due to an ear infection, (I think). The right ear rings always. It's not really distracting, but noticeable if I stop and listen. Once in a while it kind of rages for a minute or so. Usually I don't pay any attention.

My experience has been that playing whistle alone doesn't bother me. After a concert, session, or using headphones, (such as my mp3-player at the gym), I'll often have a heightened sense of ringing, and it may take a half hour to settle down.

I count my blessings in that it hasn't changed much over the years. Hopefully it'll remain stable. I have started taking a vitamin supplement that's targeted at T-sufferers, but I think it's probably pretty bogus.

Standard disclaimer: Just relaying my own experience. Don't take this in the form of medical advice!

[Tommy]

Are ear plugs used to any degree?

Hi Raggle Taggle,
welcome to Chiff and Fipple and the exciting world of whistles. I have tinnitus for many years, and making it worse is a concern of mine. My favorite pair of earplugs is mounted on a U shaped plastic holder that wears around my neck when not in use. Then it is just one quick motion to put them in when testing the whistles I make. Of course final testing is done without the ear plugs.

[straycat82]

I have dealt with tinnitus symptoms off and on for a few years in my right ear. For the most part I am okay when playing the whistle. Actually, my syptoms are soft enough that it only really drives me nuts in situations of extreme silence where the ringing is all I can hear. Sessions and other situations with background noises actually provide me relief from the nerve wracking ringing.

I can't play with earplugs as it takes away my ability to really focus on intonation. Once in a while when the tinnitus really flares up I have to go a few days to a week without playing the whistle as certain notes hit just the right frequency and seem to cause all sorts of painful overtones in my ear. The painful notes are different every time it flares up and it seems to be based on specific note frequencies rather than decibel levels.

Sometimes mine goes away altogether so my hat's off to you who have been dealing with it constantly for years and have maintained your sanity.

[Bloomfield]

clicky

[straycat82]

Thanks for that link, Bloomfield. Those seem to be a great solution and I was quite surprised at how low the price was.

[sponge]

Hi all,

the Elacin Er20's are good, they reduce the volume by 20db and work out at around £15, I have a slight noise in my left ear more noticable when it silent, but I also get a funny vibration which is quite uncomfortable with certain notes, low f and high f and low e on certain whistle, so I had a custom set of Elacin ER9 earplugs made, you go along to one of there approved ear centers, in the Uk its usually attached to boots the chemist or other high street optician shops, they then check your ears then push a soft foam plug in quite deep with a string attached, once the plug is in they syringe a special
mix of resin into your ears you sit there for five minutes until it sets hard, then they send them off to oxford and the custom plugs are made of silicon, takes about three weeks, the special mesh filter is inserted into the silicon, I chose -9db which is great for whistle playing, I dont lose any of the tone, it simply just turned the volume down, I also bought a second set of filters -25db which I use for going to gigs, these Elacin custom plugs are really good, cost for the molds plus silicon plugs is £164 pounds in the Uk, extra -db filters are £ 60, it is expensive, but your ears are worth it, if it were your eye you would spend at least that on a pair of specs, its not possible to compare these to the cheap er20's as i find the er20 quite a muffled sound, but if your on a budget better than nothing at a all.

estimated life of the customs is 5 years

cheers sponge

[O_Gaiteiro_do_Chicago]

I use these http://www.sensaphonics.com/prod_erseries_customs.html It may seem a little pricey, but not a bad price to pay to protect your hearing.

[boyd]

I am pretty sure my tinnitus is entirely related to playing whistle in confined spaces, eg echoey kitchen and so on.

I wish I had worn ear protection decades ago.

New whistlers please take note!!!!!!!


Boyd

[mutepointe]

My Mom had tinnitus her whole life and it drives her and subsequently us crazy. I decided when I started getting the ringing in my ears (and it's started) to do something positive with it. I add a beat and bit of rhythm and turn it into music. My life has a soundtrack occasionally.

[crookedtune]

My Mom had tinnitus her whole life and it drives her and subsequently us crazy. I decided when I started getting the ringing in my ears (and it's started) to do something positive with it. I add a beat and bit of rhythm and turn it into music. My life has a soundtrack occasionally.

I know you meant that as a joke, but there's a lot of truth to it. When I wake up each day and hear the ring, I say "Yup, I'm here to enjoy another day!". You sort of learn over time to make it your friend. Not much choice, really.

[mutepointe]

Actually, I didn't mean this as a joke. I decided as a child, long before I started developing signs of tinitis that if I did get tinitis that I would make the best of a situation that often got the best of my Mom. I'm sure I'm not facing anything near what she faced. And let's hope I don't.

[Innocent Bystander]

I raise my hand. I have tinnitus too. It's worse when I'm tired or hungry.

(What's worse is labyrynthitis. That affects your balance. I had a bad bout of it a few years ago. Now every cold or chill I get has an element of labyrynthitis. It never goes away.)

I read somewhere that tinnitus is a brain problem, or neurological, rather than an ear problem. When it gets bad, I remind myself of this, and it doesn't seem so bad somehow.

[westwind]

I suffer from moderate to severe tinnitus in my left ear, I also have unilateral deafness affecting my right ear, recently the tinnitus has been much worse due to a recurring case of the aforementioned labrynthitis.

However I can honestly say that the only time it ever bothers me is on the very rare occassions when it is so loud it wakes me during the night the rest of the time it's just something that's a part of being me and I even catch myself just listening to it sometimes.

Listening to music tends to distract me from it and in no way affects my listening pleasure, interestingly when I play my flute or whistles I find the tinnitus will actually totally vanish both whilst I'm playing and for up to an hour subsequently.

My recent audiometry showed a normal hearing profile in my left ear for my age, 54, and my consultant predicts that my hearing should hold out for another 25 - 30 year and that my playing is very unlikely to have an adverse effect.

Paul

[riverman]

Yep, I got it too. The ringing in my ears began when I was 21, and foolishly fired some rounds out of a .22 magnum revolver without ear protection.
When I play a lot, especially the D whistle, I get that tinny ring, especially on the B note.

I recently tried the Alpine ear plugs from The Ear Plug Store, under the Musician's plugs section. They were more expensive (about $35) but they contain three filters, so you can choose your own sound level. Also an extra plug! the earplugs are very soft so an inserting "tool" of clearish plastic is needed. I tried using them without it and that does not work.
The great thing is that they don't alter the sound much, just lower the volume a bit.
I should use them all the time, but I mainly just use them when I am practicing; a few tunes here and there, and I don't bother, especially outside. I get away with this more because I mainly play Bb and A whistles.