So I used to make this joke all the time. Now I have chronic tinnitus. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s nerve damage in your ears which often comes as a result of being constantly exposed to very loud noise for a long period of time. The nerve damage results in a constant ringing/buzzing in your ears. So far there’s no cure. The severity of it varies, and I’m lucky to have a mild case, which I can barely hear during the day and is easy to block out at night. That said, loads of people with tinnitus aren’t so lucky. Severe tinnitus can’t be blocked out. Those who suffer from it also suffer from severe loss of sleep, depression, anxiety…. the list goes on. Tinnitus also comes with a degree of hearing loss in most cases, making it even harder to ignore. In fact, some people with severe tinnitus kill themselves just to make the ringing stop. Tinnitus can be so severe that it drives a person to suicide. Chronic tinnitus used to mostly be prevalent in older people who worked for years with loud machinery etc, but all of a sudden it’s becoming more common in our generation. Why? Because of people, like me, who listened to their music too goddamn loudly through their headphones.
Deaf by the time you’re 20? Please. That’s the least of your worries.
Please reblog. This post reminded me to move my music further away and turn it down. Someone else may need to be more cautious of their shit too.
Chronic mild tinnitus here, too, due to too many metal concerts in my youth. Turn your headphones down a little. Wear earplugs at concerts. Protect your ears.
Your eyes have an iris that can shrink down, and eyelids that can squint shut, to protect them from light that is too bright. Your ears have NOTHING to block out sounds that are too loud. It’s up to you.
Tinnitus sufferer from drumline in high school checking in. These days I wear earplugs at concerts, rehearsals, clubs, and even movies sometimes. Get yourself a set that look like these ones:
Etymotics Research was one of the first companies I’m aware of to widely market with this
sort of ear plug, and they’re great, because they reduce noise fairly
evenly across the spectrum, and so you hear everything accurately, just
quieter. While they’re certainly more expensive than the foam earplugs
that you see everywhere, they also are washable and last for months and
months, and sound great, if not better than without for live music. Please protect your ears. There is no way to recover lost
hearing.
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