Q&A

Subject: Musician’s tinnitus

From: WR

I have just come from a Ear Nose and Throat doctor's office with the complaint of "ringing in my ears." I received a hearing test which demonstrated that I have a hearing loss at the upper end (Treble), but, it hasn't affected the normal vocal range. I am 51 years old.

My question is: Can anything be done for this 'blasted ringing', or am I stuck with it forever. I am a musician and need my ears to hear the groups I perform with: Concert Band and Orchestra.

The office that I visited gave no answers and no information. (Needless to say - I will not be returning there) The ringing has been going on for several years, but only recently has gotten louder. Thanks for your time. WR

Dear fellow musician,

As an audiologist and as a musician, I fully understand how important your ears are to the quality of your life and your profession as a musician. First, you probably cannot regain the hearing that you have lost BUT you probably can prevent further loss.

More and more musicians are making use of custom earplugs aptly called "Musicians' Plugs" which are custom made from casts of your ears and which filter incoming sounds to reduce overall loudness and maintain your capability to judge blend and balance of sound. A pair of these plugs generally costs between $125-175 and may be obtained through any audiologist who deals with hearing aids. The same laboratories which fashion earmolds (couplers to take sound from hearing aids into the ear canal) also make these devices. The ER15 models take sound down about 15dB while ER25s reduce the volume still further but do not have as flat a frequency response. Standard noise plugs can reduce volume about 36 dB but they are highly skewed to the higher frequencies and do not have the same natural sound quality. They are, however, the device of choice for other noise protection such as cutting the grass, woodworking, or using recreational craft (boats, skidoos, etc.)

Exposure to loud noise often kicks tinnitus into louder levels, so these protective devices may help to protect you from the annoyance. While hearing loss alone, even a slight one, is the usual cause of tinnitus, it is sometimes related to stress in the jaw joint--clenching or grinding your teeth. If your jaw "clicks" or if you are a clincher or grinder, talk to your dentist...that may be a fixable problem.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Solveig Ingersoll, Audiologist/Organist