A word about hearing protection.

[Jason White]

Friends, please take this seriously!


I have tinnitus (ringing in the ears), caused by high frequency hearing loss. Most likely, my hearing loss was caused by running power tools without adequate hearing protection. I'd wear ear muffs for my larger woodworking machines (table saw, planer, routers, etc.), but I didn't bother wearing them for smaller tools like power drills, nail guns, etc. Big mistake!!


I will have tinnitus forever. It's a 24-hour loud, high-pitched, screaming nightmare. There is no cure, and the saddest part is that I could've prevented it!


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE protect your ears!


Yours in sawdust,


- Jason White

[Jim Tabor]

Jason
I don,t have to worry about high frequency hearing loss, that happened many years ago when I was an USAF Marksmanship Instructor. You are correct, it can be prevented with proper hearing protection. Most of us learn after it's to late.

[Jerry Bruette]

I'm with you guys. Started loosing hearing back when I thought I was bullet proof and didn't wear hearing protection while working in the engine room of the ship I was stationed on.

I get a hearing test every year at work and I've noticed the ringing is right at some frequencies during the test. It's almost like the ringing cancels out the test frequency and I can't hear it until it almost hurts.

I was involved with a interesting thread here at the Creek a couple of years ago. A young poster laughed when I offered to send him free of charge different types of hearing protection to try. Claimed he didn't need them or safety glasses, always wondered how or what he's doing.

Yes it's preventable if you take the precautions but like Jim said, most of learn after it's too late.

Jerry

[Chris Parks]

I have had it for 40 years, brought on by shooting when in the army. My advise to anyone who has it is never read or research the condition because as soon as you do that it lifts your awareness. I am fortunate, mine is extremely loud, they can do tests BTW, but I have always had the ability to ignore it, some can't and there have been suicides due to the problem. My greatest fear would be to be in a dead silent place for a long time. It is getting louder as I get older, not nice at all!!

[Brian Libby]

Same here-Mine was mostly from tractors and farm equipment. USE HEARING PROTECTION ALWAYS

[glenn bradley]

27db Peltors for the last decade. Very happy. Thanks for the reminder. We can never share safety reminders, tips and stories enough.

Safety-001.jpg

There's no such this as a "just this once".

[John Hays]

So does that mean those of us who have tinnitus already DON'T have to wear hearing protection?

[Alan Lightstone]

Yup. Tinnitus, hearing loss. Now just started wearing hearing aids this year.

Religiously wore ear protection when flying (which I used to do a lot of). Didn't seem to prevent the hearing loss, unfortunately.

[bob ware]

So does that mean those of us who have tinnitus already DON'T have to wear hearing protection?

I don't know if it means we don't HAVE to but I do because I bought hearing protection for my grandson so I not only want to set the example but when he is around he always brings out mine with his. I have had severe ringing/tinitus for 40 years but I figure wearing the hearing protection now might make what hearing I have now last a little longer.
I have the same problem with skin cancer. My dermatologist reminds me to put on sunscreen and wear a hat at every visit even though I am paying for the sins of my youth with each visit.

[paul cottingham]

I have tinnitus related to a brain injury. I am lucky, I can ignore it for the most part. I do wear hearing protection regardless, as I would hate it if it got worse. Also, it is much easier to convince my 7 year old to wear hearing protection when I practice what I preach.

[ken masoumi]

I have Tinnitus also,it's directly work related,metal fabrication environment is extremely noisy ,I also learned to ignore it for the most part but there are days I feel like every body around me sound muffled when they talk.
There are times the ringing is less noticeable ,but it is very random I can't pinpoint exactly why some days it's quieter than other and what triggers it to get louder..
Hearing aids may help but I find wearing them more annoying than the ringing noise so I suppose mine is not that bad compare to some of you.there is nothing we can do except learn to ignore it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have tinnitus........and am deaf.

I lost most of the hearing in my right ear over 12 years ago. In July 2010, I awoke deaf. My left ear had literally died. 16 months later I had surgery and a cochlear implant implanted in that dead left ear.

While I wear the most powerful Hearing Aid (HA) made on my right ear. I can't function with just the Hearing Aid. I can function with just the CI. I wear the HA only because it gives me limited directionality of some high frequencies...so I can sometimes tell from which direction a siren is blowing or the direction from which a bird is chirping.

At night when I take off my hardware, I am deaf again. Literally...I can stick my fingers in my ears and yell....and I can't even hear myself. I have a special system that monitors the doorbell, telephone and smoke detector and shakes the bed if any of those devices goes off. My wife travels more than I so it's only prudent to have the monitor/bedshaker system in case of fire.

Wear hearing protection. Being deaf isn't cool or fun.

[Bruce Page]

I credit my tinnitus to a Boot Camp training accident and 30+ years working as a machinist. Most of the time I can ignore it...most of the time. My wife once asked me what tinnitus sounded like. I told her it’s like standing in a ceramic hallway with a hundred crickets on a cool evening. Not fun.

[John Piwaron]

My wife once asked me what tinnitus sounded like. I told her it’s like standing in a ceramic hallway with a hundred crickets on a cool evening. Not fun.

My understand, perhaps wrong or incomplete, is that tinnitus (for the ones afflicted) is different from one person to the next. Mine is a continuous high pitched tone. It never stops. Ever. I'd like a day off once in a while. At least.

FWIW, I use my hearing protection. For just about everything that's not hand powered. Everyone that works with something loud should use it.

[John Piwaron]

hearing loss is also caused by illness. Some of my hearing was stolen by scarlet fever when I was a kid. Unfortunately I also have tinnitus. That's much worse in one ear than the other. Yes, it's getting louder as I get older.

Years ago I read of a device a medical school in Milwaukee was working on that would stop tinnitus. Something about implanting electrodes in a specific spot in the brain for stimulation. There's a small electronic device that those electrodes connect to and you carry around with you. Because I also scuba dive I never followed up on that. Perhaps it was only experimental. But the story at the time did mention at least one success story. Someone finally enjoying silence. I wish I could.