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Damaged Hearing - My Story
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| Trancelover03591 |
I know threads have been created about this before, but I think it is an important subject and I think creating a new thread inherently gets more attention than replying to a thread several pages long already from a year or two ago. I hope someone finds my story useful.
About four years ago, 6 months or so into learning music production, I bought a pair of decent production headphones to produce on. I have produced and listened to music probably 95%+ of the time on them since then. They are good headphones overall, but they really clamp on the ears, and of course at excess volumes and long lengths of time can really mistreat the ears.
Essentially, for the past 4 years I have blasted my ears, sometimes for 8 hours in one day with music. About two years ago I was in my truck and in a rare moment of quite. It was night, in a semi-rural/suburban neighborhood where few people lived and I hadn't turned my engine on yet, so a very quite environment. That's when I noticed a faint noise in my right ear. The best way I can describe it was like someone vacuuming their car 3 houses down. In fact, had it been a Saturday afternoon that's probably what I would have thought it was. Since then, with a few isolated time periods, that sound has remained the same but hasn't gotten worse. I can go days without being in an environment quite enough to hear it (I have a loud a/c or fan on at night), a luxury many people with tinnitus don't have, but if it is quite, I can hear it. I think it is very minor tinnitus and it likely will never go away (hasn't in at least 2 years), but so long as it doesn't get worse, it isn't a big deal.
About a month ago I did an 8 or so hour session on a track (one of the ones I submitted to Colors so you better include it Raphie!!!) and at the end of the night my ears just hurt. Especially my right one. The next day was probably the worst day for my hearing in my life. It actually kind of hurt to listen to an instructor talk in one of my summer classes. I had constant moderate ringing, couldn't hear as well as usual, pain, ect.
To make a long story short, I was extremely lucky (again). I reduced my volume a lot and tried to not use headphones as much as possible. It took two weeks or so, but all of my symptoms went away except one. Still, a month later, certain high frequencies ring in my right ear and are minorly painful. A quick research and it seems like I have something called hyperacusis and I am just going to assume it will be permanent. I will probably have to take several more months to basically limit sound to all but a minimum. Hopefully with time it will go away with this measure. As a goal oriented type-A personality, taking a "break" from a major pursuit in life is not in my repertoire. But I really have to do something this time.
Overall, I actually consider myself really lucky. I mistreated my ears for 4 years in the studio, and even well before then as a listener on my ipod nano. My entry level tinnitus hasn't gotten worse despite years more of bad habits. I can live with the ringing in my ear when I hear high frequencies. It's annoying, but it isn't constant and so many people have it far worse.
Take Away Message:
The process of incurring an irreversible problem with your ears may not be gradual. I had no reason to think my relatively unremarkable 8 hour session a month ago, like so many others, would suddenly cause hearing damage that likely will be permanent. Keep the volume low. Don't wear headphones for hours on end. |
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| inversoundzzz |
| It will go away.. Every time you hurt your ears they need time to heal...and when they heal they form a new layer of protection. it's not like you have hearing "damage", it more like you get hearing protection...it's the bodys way of protecting your ear drums...i am not a doctor. |
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| Trancelover03591 |
| quote: | Originally posted by inversoundzzz
It will go away.. Every time you hurt your ears they need time to heal...and when they heal they form a new layer of protection. it's not like you have hearing "damage", it more like you get hearing protection...it's the bodys way of protecting your ear drums...i am not a doctor. |
I hope. I am still pretty young so that should help. Luckily I caught it at a point where it only happens if I am exposed to relatively loud high frequencies, like when I turn music on a foot away from me. In the course a normal day it is like a once an hour thing or something, irrelevant so long as it doesn't get worse. The main issue right now is that I can't produce music on headphones or on my laptop speakers which are treble heavy and bigger speakers would be to loud as well.
However, the main point of my story isn't about me so much as it is to let people know that hearing issues can happen suddenly rather than something linear that gets gradually worse over the course of months. I did a little research and saw several stories of people who have had long term exposure to loud sound with little issue (like me) then suddenly after a seemingly typical day of loud sound exposure was the day it hit. |
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| djnitride |
I really got to watch it with the headphones, both at work and in the studio.
Thanks for posting this, I think we all get arrogant and say "that will never happen to me" about these types of things now and then and simply need to hear it from someone who has been through it. |
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| inversoundzzz |
| dont focus on horror stories, dont focus on that, and hearing loss stories |
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| Richard Butler |
I damaged my left ear a while back. Again headphones but in my case it happened in an instant as I was wearing them when turning on my system and leaning on a hardware synth keyboard and as everything booted up at once including my interface there was a momentary horrendous screech into my left phone shell.
Don't think the ear will recover. |
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| Andy28 |
I've always produced using headphones and it has had an effect on my hearing without doubt.
You don't realise it but over time they will get damaged. I do now listen at lower volumes and take breaks but I wish I had done so a lot sooner.
Everyone should take note and do yourself a favour! |
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| Raphie |
don't produce on headphones, unless it feels like background music levels.
give your ears rest
and train your ears on low volume, not moderate, LOW |
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| XDR |
Yeah the problem with headphones, especially closed headphones, is that you can very easily forget how loud the music is that you are listening to.
There are no room reverberations that give a sense of loudness, no shouting housemates or neighbours, just pure music. And when you're listening to a good piece of music turning up the volume just seems like the thing to do.
But when you take of your headphones at the end of your listening or production session and you really feel that they have to adjust to the sudden drop in volume or are ringing or hurting that's the telltale sign that you've been listening at levels that are simply too high.
It should be avoided at all costs. Higher quality sound can help a bit in reducing hearing fatigue but when the volume's too high it's too high and you just have to turn it down. |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by Raphie
give your ears rest
and train your ears on low volume, not moderate, LOW |
I'm going to repeat this with a much larger font.
give your ears rest
and train your ears on low volume, not moderate, LOW |
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| djnitride |
| quote: | Originally posted by cryophonik
I'm going to repeat this with a much larger font.
give your ears rest
and train your ears on low volume, not moderate, LOW |
Im going to have to get some sort of volume signal limiter in between me and my headphones so even max out the volume in my DAW it won't damage my ears.
Anyone have a better solution? Producing with monitors at anything but the lowest volume simply isn't an option for me in an apartment. |
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| Raphie |
| quote: | Originally posted by djnitride
Im going to have to get some sort of volume signal limiter in between me and my headphones so even max out the volume in my DAW it won't damage my ears.
Anyone have a better solution? Producing with monitors at anything but the lowest volume simply isn't an option for me in an apartment. |
better solution?!? self control/dicipline?!? |
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