The guy who got his hearing back (take care of your ears)

brad1138

Active Member
I have loved music my entire life. I have spent my entire adult life building my home stereo/theater, continually upgrading and improving this or that, I'm a self professed audiophile. (http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....-listening-space.130581/page-817#post-9861888)

One of my issues is I like loud music. About 3 to 4 years ago, I had more or less achieved what I had been striving for, for so long. The Mirage spks with Citation Amp & Lexicon Preamp (etc.) Sounded so good, it literally brought tears to my eyes. After only a couple months of enjoying my "dream system", I had a week off and a lot of stuff to do around the house, so I spent a lot of it with the system cranked up as I milled around. Towards the end of the week, I woke up one morning with a ringing in my left ear and everything above about midrange, nearly gone... (in my left ear )

My ability to enjoy my greatest passion, crushed. Everything I had spent 20+ years building, a cruel reminder of my significant hearing loss. It was extremely difficult to sit and enjoy music, stero imagine was basically gone, every high sound (above 2 kHz or so, I think) coming from the right ear and sounding muffled like my left ear was significantly plugged or there was cotton in it. The high pitch ringing was there all alone in my left ear. Also, the entire range was down a bit relative to the right ear.

Over the last 3 or so years, I have tried to get used to it, and to some small degree I did. I could enjoy concert blu rays, the surround sound helped mask the issue.

I went to the Doc, not long after. They did some test, and thought it was a bit odd to lose that much hearing like that, but nothing they tried worked very well. I had noticed that pressure changes, like when I come down from the mountains seem to change the "muffledness" over the years, but that didn't really help anything. 3 years is a long time, I had resigned myself to my hearing loss.

I beat myself up countless times for not taking better care of my ears, and not knowing what you have till it's gone had never been more relevant.


Last weekend I was on a 500 mile drive to a friends house. As I was driving over some mountains, I noticed the subtle changes in my left ear I had notice before. I decided, to clear my ears by plugging my nose and blowing. As the pressure built, it felt like it has before, but then all the sudden, the volume of the radio (in both ears) sounded like it increased 20 dB (not your normal clearing of plugged ears increase). As I held the (medium) pressure the increased volume persisted, then when I released the pressure, the increased volume when away, but I could tell something was different. I knew it would be hard to assess with the hills/mountains still on my route, so I figured I would see how it was in the morning.

I woke up next morning and 90-95% of the hearing that had been gone in my left ear for over 3 years was back!!! I couldn't believe it, the left speaker now sounded normal again, stereo imaging was back. I still have a little tinnitus in the left ear, but with the highs being back, it is easy to ignore, and a lot of the time, I can't even hear it.

I spent a lot of today, really hearing my system for the first time in a long time, it brought tears to my eyes again :) . I have a doctors appt Monday to discuss it, the problem is likely Eustachian tube related, and some of the things that helped, but didn't fix it originally, may help me get all the closer to 100% back.

I am beyond lucky, I have a new appreciation for my hearing, and it's fragileness. Be careful with your ears, they will eventually fade, do what you can to push that day off. For a music lover, losing your hearing really sucks, trust me.

Take care all
 
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I used to work in a Utilities Operation (Boilers/Power Generators). We made 600psi Superheated Steam. Well, back in those days, we [mostly] did not usually wear hearing protection. One day, while we were starting everything up after a maintenance shutdown, there was a steam bleeder valve left open. It was down in a sort of basement area underneath a generator. I went down to close the valve, and I was not wearing any hearing protection. This was a 600psi open steam valve! The noise level was staggering to say the least. Probably ten times what a rock concert was in the '70's. Of course, the valve was probably 50 years old, and probably took 5 minutes to get the thing closed. When I went back into the control room, I could barely hear anything over the ringing in my ears. Scared the crap out of me! I thought I had ruined my hearing for the rest of my life. The ringing persisted for about 3 or 4 days until it started going back to normal. I have had my hearing tested every year for the last 26 years (it is a requirement where I work) and there has been no evidence of any permanent damage. And, I have shown no loss from what hearing I had when I was first hired, Thank Goodness! In fact, our Plant Nurse that administers the hearing tests says that my hearing is remarkable for my age and that my hearing tests out better than most people that are in their 20's. So, everyone, PLEASE protect your hearing! Earplugs are really cheap. I will not take that kind of chance ever, ever again. I will not shoot a gun, mow the grass, run any power equipment, etc., without my hearing protection.

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I want to add, my doctor had me try to clear my ears like that at his appointment 3 years ago, and nothing happened. I have also tried a couple times since and can get that giant increase in volume again, but the "return" of my left ear is close to half of it.
 
I'm so glad to hear this. I have had the same thing happen to me, but not for that duration.

Take care of your ears, everyone. You only get one pair.
 
It's great to "hear" your doing better. Hope for the best. One observation about age and youth. We listened to loud music, drank a lot, ate and went straight to bed, didn't work out, didn't save, fatty goods etc. Now it catches up at around 50ish. I'm thinking it's the cycle of life any more. The gran-kids know everything. Well...actually....I knew everything when I was their age too. Some of us are lucky in that we still have a bit left in the tank, others? We hit the 100K check-up and it's not so good. I've learned to live with what I have left after being the hare, and use it at the tortoise pace. :)
 
Good to hear, but ... I'd consider changing doctors. After all, this guy didn't do much for you for an extended period of time?

At the very least, I'd expect him to refer you to a professional audiologist. A real ear wax extraction procedure is a lot more complicated than the standard roto rooter approach most docs use. As said, hearing is too precious to screw around with.

Best of luck for a long term recovery!
 
My wife has dealt with congenital hearing loss since the age of 13 and started wearing hearing aides since her early 30s. Her last pair she has worn for 11 years and for the last 2 years she has started having me (and other people) repeat.
I was having to repeat myself almost every time I said something to her and that was getting frustrating for both of us so just a couple of weeks ago we visited an audiologist that was in her healthcare network (the only audiologist in our town is out of her network but we've paid OOP instead of driving so far to one that was) and she was fitted for new aides.
The look on her face when they hooked her up to the "360 degree" systems was priceless!! Pricey indeed they are but we both agree it'll be worth every cent.
I think I'm looking more forward to this than she is although this is going to be a life changing event for her.
And, even though she has taught herself over the years to read lips very well, I'll have to get out of the habit of hollering and repeat hollering - this can't come fast enough for either one of us:D.
 
I will always remember this guy I worked with, David. He had hearing aids built in to his glasses. I would be giving him instructions at work and if he didn't want any part of it he would reach up to the frames and turn the volume off while looking at me eye to eye. That guy would crack me up. The ladies around him complained he would has gas loud! Guess he thought no one could hear him. He would at time yell out "THIS IS ****ED UP!". It would be broadcast all over the floor.
 
I'm glad you got most of your hearing back....

My ears always felt odd when I was around loud volume and it would last for a couple of days. I guess I've always been the catious type as I've never been into accesses. Being a California health nut and all taking care of ones self is key to longevity and the enjoyment of an enjoyable old age.
 
Nice that you got your hearing back - my left ear has been ringing for a couple years though I haven't listened to music at the bone crushing volume setting for years I did construction over 25 years. It ain't coming back but when I listen to my stereo I can hear the music not the ringing - getting to sleep is a bitch.
 
[....]but when I listen to my stereo I can hear the music not the ringing - getting to sleep is a bitch.

Not to get a tinnitus thread going again but I find that listening to music also relaxes my tinnitus ringing - I don't do it loud but I do it often.
And you're so right about the sleep thing.
Edit: Now if I could only get rid of that explosive hair that grows out of my ears....!
 
My tinnitus isn't that bad, I usually don't hear it when I go to sleep, or at least don't notice it. Also, the music I was listening to was loud, but not "that" loud. I wasn't listening to it at 110 dB or anything. I found that the 85 to 90 dB that we are warned about listening to for extended times is "A" weighted, not "C" weighted. "A" weighted (basically) doesn't include bass, which make a big difference, 5-15 dB or so, I was probably not listening to the music much more than 90 dB "A" weighted.
 
5 KISS concerts from 1974 to 1998 (another "reunion" tour??) did it for me.
Wonder how many "C" weighted dB that accumulates to?
Knew better but didn't care....then.
 
Hey,
I through big pissy fit at work last week about a bearing that's been howling for weeks. It's overhead conveyor belt with rollers and drive belts.
I guess it is a pain in the butt to fix but damn dude fix it. 12 hours of that makes Eric an angry old man.
They're supposed to fix it this weekend so I'm hopeful. I've lost a lot of higher frequencies hearing over the years of noisy environments. You gotta try to protect your hearing because no one else will. Eric
 
Dog got my hearing aids and was without for a few weeks and really missed not having balanced hearing with hf response. It sux when everyone mumbles and everything sounds muffled and distant.
 
I just have to post an update - Monday @ 4pm we're going to be at the hearing lab to pick up her Oticon 360s!!:banana:
She asked me if I wanted to go, I said "You betcha'!!"
 
Glad to read this news from the OP, I had attended a blues bar and we sat at a table too close to the speakers and I had lost a bit of my hearing in the upper ranges in my left ear, really had me worried.

Luckily my hearing returned after about two to three weeks time, but durning that time I was really upset.
 
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