Hearing problems

[Ingo Lee]

Things have changed since over-the-counter HA became available. Our Costco has dropped the high end brands and there seem to be very reasonably priced hearing aids available from a number of vendors. That's great for the those with moderate hearing loss and no special hearing problems.

I have severe hearing loss from many years of ear disease. I had Costco aids for a number of years but I recently switched to a private audiologist who fitted me with Oticon HA which were very expensive. The new HA are much better and I was able to sit in with a friend's band for the first time in a long time.

I think for many people OTC aids might work well. But many of us need specialized help. It's not so much a matter of brand x being better than brand y as being matched to equipment that works for your particular situation, which can be complicated. I went to one audiologist who knew less about HA than I did so I had to find someone competent who was patient and easy to work with and it made a big difference for me.

But regardless of the HA brand or the audiologist's skill the hardest part of using HA is getting used to them. Many people fail at this and the HA go in a drawer.

[Mark M.]

+1 on Phonak.

[Cunamara]

I knew an audiologist who worked for Phonak and there is constant research going on to improve the products and the hearing experience. I am sure that's true for all the major manufacturers. Part of it is necessary for competitiveness in the marketplace, part of it is a drive to make things better for the people who need their products.

But they can only be as good as the audiologist you see. My father-in-law has service-connected hearing loss and gets his HAs through the VA system. Their audiologists are outstanding in their dedication to helping veterans and their technical expertise is top shelf (or at least it was, prior to the slash and burn of the VA system; I haven't had to take him back since all that **** happened so I don't know how things are now). He is basically fully deaf without the hearing aids in, with them he can be part of conversations, watch TV, hear the pastor at church, etc. With a good audiologist, the outcome of hearing aids can be life-changing; with a bad audiologist, they are just expensive earbuds.

As has been mentioned, though, hearing aids take practice. The brain has to get used to filtering the new input to make sense of it. Everyone progresses differently with that.

[sgcim]

I had a horrible experience with my hearing last month. They felt all plugged up, and my sinuses were giving me a lot of pain, so I went to an ENT doc who helped me out a lot with a nose wrap 18 months ago.
He gave me an ear cleaning, and I thought things would be fine.
Luckily, he phoned in a script for a strong antibiotic, and a nasal spray. I had a big band rehearsal that night, and I noticed I was having a hard time dialing in a good sound.
The band started playing and I couldn't believe it; all I could hear were the trumpets and alto saxes- the low register instruments were inaudible. I could not hear the bass!
I shrugged my shoulders, and played till the break just by following the drummer. I hung out on the break and told my friends about it, who proceeded to scare the hell out me. They told me about a well-known bass player who just lost the ability to hear pitch, and had to give up playing music. They said it was neurological and couldn't be treated. I asked them if that's what was happening to me, and they all said they didn't know.

I went back inside and told the leader about it, and he said it's probably just an ear infection. I asked him how he knew, and he said he knew a lot of musicians that had the same symptoms. He asked me if I wanted them to play the new arrangement I wrote, and I told him I can't even hear the bass so what would be the point? I was surprised that a number of guys in the band had had the same problem, but their problem seemed to be with hearing high pitches. Someone told me that there's a better prognosis with lower frequency loss.
The next day I went to the drug store and got the script filled. Sure enough, the antibiotic and nasal spray worked and after a number of days, I was even able to play with my guitar/bass duo.

I went back to the ENT doc for my follow up appt. still not feeling 100%, and he said I had to take a hearing test with their audiologist. Of course it was worse than the last one I had, and the audiologist tried to talk me into buying an expensive hearing aid. I told her I'd think about it, and get back to her.
I'm a little skeptical about whether a hearing aid would help in my case.

[Cunamara]

Yikes, sgcim! That's scary stuff! Hopefully the treatment with the antibiotic and nasal spray will clear things up and restore you to normal, although that might take a while. And you might tend to second-guess yourself (I would, anyway) for a time. Good luck!

It's ironic that the thing we love to do- play music- can also contribute over the years to the loss of our ability to fully hear it. The number of older professional musicians with hearing aids is a lot; maybe they'd have needed them anyway, but exposure to stage volumes over decades is bound to cause hearing loss. Unfortunately we don't take hearing protection seriously until it's too late, often, and I have found that some band members even get angry with me if I am wearing ear protection on a gig. There is a macho attitude in music often.

Basically, if it's louder than normal conversation it risks damaging your hearing. Those little hairs in the cochlea are really delicate.

[rpjazzguitar]

First off, I'd recommend a visit to an ENT.

Sudden hearing loss can be Sensorineuron hearing loss. I've had it, which is why I know this.

It is a medical emergency insofar as rapid treatment can significantly improve the probability of a good outcome.

It is not a bacterial infection (which is not to say that your case wasn't, just that there's a different possibility). Treatment is an oral steroid or a steroid injection through the eardrum (which is somewhat less horrible than it sounds).

Since many people get their hearing back to one degree or another without treatment, it strikes me as possible that the antibiotic did nothing and the sensorineuron hearing loss resolved on its own, to what ever extent you experienced.

Bottom line is to treat sudden hearing loss as an emergency if sensorineuron hearing loss is a diagnostic possibility.

[Sigmund451]

Exactly what Rpjazz says...if you have it get to the ENT ASAP. I had it. Steroids didnt help. My rt ear is basically useless. Like a speaker with a bad wire. Noise and garble.

[rpjazzguitar]

Exactly what Rpjazz says...if you have it get to the ENT ASAP. I had it. Steroids didnt help. My rt ear is basically useless. Like a speaker with a bad wire. Noise and garble.

Just to make it absolutely clear. You want to be seen right away. The ENT's office staff will understand the urgency and, hopefully, try to accommodate. The ENT may require an audiology exam to quantify the problem before seeing you, so you're trying to get that appointment right away. The ENT may need that info in order to plan treatment.

I don't know what the treatment window is. Google mentioned 14 days. I recall that it's better in the first few days, like 3, but I might be remembering that wrong.

Maybe somebody else knows what they can do in the ER where, presumably, they'd have to work without the results of audiology exam. I don't know how that would work.

[sgcim]

I appreciate the concern, but I have seen the ENT twice, and the problem has gradually cleared up. ENT never gave me a diagnosis, so I asked him if it was a sinus infection, and kind of hesitantly said yes.
He told me he'll see me again in six months, and then they gave me the hearing test, followed by the hard sell on a hearing aid by the audiologist.
My sinus pain didn't bother me today, but when it does, I take a Tylenol I pilfered from the country club we played at recently.
Another big band played my arrangement, and it sounded fine. Even the trumpet players that usually give me a hard time said that they liked it.

[entresz]

Interesting to hear of other people on the forum who has experienced Sensorineural hearing loss.
About 5 years ago I lost almost all the hearing in my right ear to this, as well as ongoing issues with balance/vertigo.
I did get treatment quickly but not quick enough it seems.

Fortunately, it hasn't affected my ability to enjoy/play music too much.

I have to position my amp on my left-hand side, so I can hear it properly- that's the main adjustment I've had to make.

[benhatchins]

Really appreciate you bringing this up — it’s an issue that doesn’t get discussed enough among musicians. Hearing fatigue can sneak up on you after years of playing, especially in live settings. I’ve been looking into some hearing aids myself lately and came across audien hearing reviews — seems like they make decent budget options for mild loss. Protecting our ears is so important; without them, we literally lose part of our art. Glad to see this topic being talked about openly.

[emanresu]

Hm, I think I hacked my Meniere's (for this time, who knows what will happen again).

I had no symptoms for a year (8-12 mths maybe, don't remember). Water first thing in the morning instead coffe - which came second with a sandwitch or such.
No problems for a long time. Then took a job as nightguard at a place. 24-hour shifts. After a few months in, the issue came back and worsened. More frequent.
They offer us free drinks there - waters, lemonades, non-alcocholic beers and energy drinks. The last ones really do help when the eyes want to close by themselves.
Then pretty much after every shift I went to bed in the morning and woke up with one ear half-deaf and occasional loss of balance.
Then I started to notice that a bassy hum(the usual start of the symptom) developed each time after I drank a coffee or energy drink to try to stay awake.
That reminded me of the few last years teaching guitar in a school(2-4 years ago) when this issue really started. Most of the time I went to work having not rested enough hours, the
sleep deprevation cumulated and I drank coffee to feel human. For 5 days a week.

So, now I've quit coffee and try to soldier through on water during those 24h shifts and have been problem free for over a month.
Hm, sleep deprevation+coffee - haven't seen that being mentioned when browsing around about the syndrome.

[Cunamara]

Interesting discovery! When I find myself short on sleep for several days in a row, I also find my equilibrium offkilter. Balance is not just an inner ear thing; it is also visual (orienting ourselves to horizontal and vertical lines) and that information is then processed in the brain. It is possible to really mess with somebody's equilibrium by presenting them with false visual information that conflicts with their inner ear information. Sleep deprivation interferes with brain functioning and information processing, so it would not surprise me if that had a negative impact of Ménière's disease.

I haven't consumed any source of caffeine knowingly in the last 35 years or so because it triggers migraines for me, so I've lost track of any sense of what effect it might have on my hearing or balance. I do know that caffeine does not make up for sleep deprivation in terms of neurological functioning. It might keep us going, but we're still short on sleep with all of the consequences that come with that. And of course caffeine can make it harder to sleep that night.

[RJVB]

Hm, sleep deprevation+coffee - haven't seen that being mentioned when browsing around about the syndrome.

Cafeine is a vasoconstrictor, and a diuretic (and I recall that American coffee tends to have a lot of caffeine). This may have the same effects as not drinking enough which isn't ideal for the functioning of neither the brain nor the vestibular system (think of it as allowing the liquid in the semicircular canals to become too viscous).

FWIW, those energy drinks are best avoided if you're subject to psychological issues; they can provoke/aggravate depression.

triggers migraines for me

That's strange, I literally just saw that *moderate* doses of coffee can help to prevent migraine (up to 4 cups a day - undoubtedly the French/Italian size, with ditto style brew because it was a French article). And I know it's a great medicine for me to clear up the haze of a regular headache.
Comparing the effects of arabica vs. robusta brews might be relevant here.

[emanresu]

I love coffee but hah. Can't use it as it was meant by nature anymore.
Well, I'm 46 and a half already. The road ahead looks narrower...
The health-issues, I mean

[Basshead]

Ear training is everything, can you hear which string is out of tune here?

[garybaldy]

Ear training is everything, can you hear which string is out of tune here?

I think we're starting to mix up two different things. My hearing is shot. Partial hearing in left hear, almost completely deaf in right ear and constant tinnitus. I'm currently doing vestibular exercises for my balance and dizziness - they are like hell on earth. But when I hear something out of tune and even when I'm playing my double bass it grates if I'm out of tune with 'fretting'. (I didn't want to use the word "fingering"!). And did I tell you about my Rheumatoid arthritis?!!!

[ROCK1]

Tinnitus is also a huge problem. Mine started playing rock music, and now I have to very careful with volume. I know tons of musicians with tinnitus.

[RJVB]

An acquaintance of mine developped tinnitus for no apparent reason, and wears 2 tiny hearing-aid-like devices that make the situation manageable for her. From what I understand it provides a minimal sound pressure.