Off Topic » Tinnitus sufferers...

My tinnitus didn't come from motorcycling, but from stupidly walking into a small saloon to see the New Orleans rock band, Better Than Ezra, aboaut 20 years ago. This was a SMALL room, and when the band was about to come out, there was intro music playing through the sound system and it was LOUD! I developed high-frequency tinnitus within a day of the concert. I didn't think to wear ear plugs.

I now also have some age-related high-frequency hearing loss, which makes the brain generate high-frequency tones to compensate. It's a bit maddening.

I've been told hearing aids can help with this, as the re-introduction of the ability to hear high frequencies will cause the brain to stop generating phantom frequencies.

If you have tinnitus, what measures have you employed to combat it?

Pardon?

I have tinnitus. I don’t know where it came from, but I developed it (or noticed it?) about 2 years ago. It was around the time I changed from disposable earplugs to custom fit and also changed screen on my old XR, but being honest I cannot be sure that was the cause or whether it was there earlier. Possibly one of the reasons i have been overly sensitive about wind noise since getting the RS and reverted to 3M disposable plugs. My hearing is otherwise excellent, I have no hearing loss of any description, and am quite good at tuning it out, so it mostly doesn’t bother me. I take no special measures, so not much help!

Noisiest concert I ever went to was AC/DC at Wembley Stadium. We were up in the stand but it was very loud and distorted, and I had a few days of high frequency noise in my ears afterwards. I try to remember to take earplugs when I am in any danger of repeating that sort of experience.
No actual tinnitus so far ..
Personally I would not go with the hearing aids. Is there any evidence that would help with your symptoms or is it just a theory someone has come up with?

You should see an audiologist.

I have a bit of tinnitus though certainly not bad compared to others. I got it from playing drums in bands and drum corps, going to loud concerts (I think either Alice in Chains or Living Colour were the loudest) and various other pursuits. I now wear hearing protection whenever I ride, use power equipment or even go to my daughter's games. I actually find a pair of Airpod Pros to be very useful for the games in particular.

I've been to an audiologist, most recently last Friday. A hearing test confirmed high frequency hearing loss, which was first documented by this audiologist's office in 2016. This is a medical audiologist, not a franchise hearing aid company. They do excellent work.

The theory of hearing loss being responsible for tinnitus is valid. In fact, I can listen to a tone generator in the frequency range of my hearing loss for 30 seconds, and for about that length of time afterward, my tinnitus is diminished and in some cases non-existent. So by replacing the lost frequencies with hearing aids, tinnitus should diminish. The problem is...hearing aids, if they're high quality and not just "amplifiers" cost anywhere from $3000-5000. Not covered by my insurance.

I've solved the wind noise issue on my RS with the PUIG and MRA, as detailed elsewhere, and it's blissful now. The stock shield actually impelled me to look at selling the bike, it was so awful. Glad I didn't. I am particularly sensitive to wind noise, as it's a lower-frequency sound, and because I've lost some high-frequency sonic acuity, my brain accentuates the lower-frequencies. As a result, wind noise is noisier for me than for someone with intact hearing. Forty years ago, when my youthful hearing was good, I rode a Suzuki GS550ES and never wore hearing protection...and I never was bothered by wind noise.

I rode without earplugs for the first 20 years of having fun before I wised up and starting riding with earplugs. After that I developed tinnitus and have ringing in my ears now all the time. The only good thing about having poor hearing is that it gets me out of jury duty.

Zitat von wessie im Beitrag #7

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I don't have tinnitus but a good friend does. Ironically he is a retired Environmental Health Officer that specialised in enforcement of community & industrial noise regulations.

He uses ambient noise distraction and relaxation techniques. You have already had a demo from the audiologist that some noise can block the tinnitus so rather than an expensive device, try different music, animal noises or whatever. Then try some different relaxation methods: there are loads and we are all different so what works for me, might not work for you.

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #8

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I rode without earplugs for the first 20 years of having fun before I wised up and starting riding with earplugs. After that I developed tinnitus and have ringing in my ears now all the time. The only good thing about having poor hearing is that it gets me out of jury duty.

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Zitat von BEARR im Beitrag #10

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #8

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I rode without earplugs for the first 20 years of having fun before I wised up and starting riding with earplugs. After that I developed tinnitus and have ringing in my ears now all the time. The only good thing about having poor hearing is that it gets me out of jury duty.

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Getting old got me permanently out of jury duty, but I never thought of using hearing loss to get out of it sooner!

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #11

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Zitat von BEARR im Beitrag #10

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #8

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I rode without earplugs for the first 20 years of having fun before I wised up and starting riding with earplugs. After that I developed tinnitus and have ringing in my ears now all the time. The only good thing about having poor hearing is that it gets me out of jury duty.

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Getting old got me permanently out of jury duty, but I never thought of using hearing loss to get out of it sooner!

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In my county getting old is not enough to get you out of jury duty as my 93-old mother discovered when she received a summons. At the time there was no way that she could go to the courthouse as she needed help just to live in her home. When she notified the county about her condition, they sent someone to her apartment make sure that was the case. If you are over 70 you also need a medical reason to be excused from jury duty for the next year.

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Zitat von BEARR im Beitrag #6

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I've been to an audiologist, most recently last Friday. A hearing test confirmed high frequency hearing loss, which was first documented by this audiologist's office in 2016. This is a medical audiologist, not a franchise hearing aid company. They do excellent work.

The theory of hearing loss being responsible for tinnitus is valid. In fact, I can listen to a tone generator in the frequency range of my hearing loss for 30 seconds, and for about that length of time afterward, my tinnitus is diminished and in some cases non-existent. So by replacing the lost frequencies with hearing aids, tinnitus should diminish. The problem is...hearing aids, if they're high quality and not just "amplifiers" cost anywhere from $3000-5000. Not covered by my insurance.

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Thanks wessie. That app is specifically for danalogic brand devices as supplied by your NHS. Interesting info tho.