I wish I had worn ear protection earlier

[Galager]

I started wearing ear protection at my gigs a few years ago and even started wearing it when mowing or doing other loud things. About 6 months ago my wife and I were eating at a restaurant and she commented about the song playing softly in the background. I couldn't hear it. Since then I've noticed my hearing isn't what it used to be. I am pushing 50 and I know you start to loose hearing as you age but I have a hunch DJing for several years with out ear protection may have contributed to this as well. Damn.

 

[Randy A]

I'm 43 and have been DJing since 1992-ish. Never worn ear protection. Wish I would have because my hearing is horrible. I wear small ear plugs or my headphones at gigs now, especially if I'm set up in between my speakers.

 

[Fred Wright]

I'm sorry to hear (no pun intended).

Hearing loss ain't no joke. It can't be fixed, it doesn't heal.

My father and his father suffered with hearing loss for much of their adult lives. Pop was in the Army as a young man, around aircraft a lot. Granddaddy was around noisy machinery as a younger man. In those days there was no OSHA. Little attention was paid to hearing protection.

Pop used to say he had a roaring sound in his ears much of the time, it kept him awake a lot. His doc said it had something to do with his hearing loss and nothing could be done about it.

Sadly, even today some people don't get the word. I go to the local sawmill to scrounge firewood; them Amish fellas are working all day in that loud environment with no hearing protection. I've seen folks running chainsaws, noisy mowers, using leaf blowers and trimmers with no hearing protection. They're gonna regret it in time to come.

It's pretty much mandated now as PPE, at least in the workplace. I started working in factories in '84, my boss at the time was in his early 40s and wore hearing aids in both ears. The cause? Years of noisy factory work with no hearing protection. I remember thinking that I did not want to end up like that.

When I was DJing, school dances were the loudest and I kept a pair of ear plugs in the gig bag. Didn't need 'em for most other shows. Wear them ear plugs, folks, please.

 

[SEDJ]

I am hard of hearing in my right ear, and from I what I can remember (CRS) , its been that way for a long time, and I am not sure if loud music was the cause of it, but I am going to do what I can to protect my good ear, wearing ear plugs or headphones.

 

[steve149]

My left ear has some tinnitus (ringing in the ear) .. started with a stupid shot at the range without hearing protectors ... got worse when I helped a friend break in a pair of JBL ASH-6118 club subs (18" horn loaded 355 pound beasts) in too close of a proximity.

The ringing is permanent .. luckily at a low enough volume to not be too much of an issue.

 

[SEDJ]

My left ear has some tinnitus (ringing in the ear) .. started with a stupid shot at the range without hearing protectors ... got worse when I helped a friend break in a pair of JBL ASH-6118 club subs (18" horn loaded 355 pound beasts) in too close of a proximity.

The ringing is permanent .. luckily at a low enough volume to not be too much of an issue.

Thats the word I was looking, tinnitus, the ringing is low for me as well, but does make it difficult to fall asleep sometimes

 

[DJ Ricky B]

WHAT DID YOU ALL SAY?

 

[Jeff Romard]

Same problems here. I have very mild tinnitus but there are frequencies I can no longer hear

 

[Handinon]

Sure we could have worn hearing protection, and I suppose lots of other things as well. One of my favorite quotes -

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

 

[soundinmotiondj]

I have been wearing custom molded musicians ear plugs for almost 6 years. I got them right after the ringing in my ears started. I consider them essential for any gig.

Without the earplugs (and some mindfullness meditation techniques) I would have stopped DJing years ago.

 

[DJ Bobcat]

Very weird so many of us have hearing problems. And when I say us, that includes me. Mine was not caused by loud music. It happened before I started DJing. I felt some severe pain in my right ear and it felt like I had something plugging up my ear. I went to my doctor, but he could find nothing wrong, so he referred me to a specialist who diagnosed Otosclerosis. The thing is, after taking several hearing tests, my hearing is still normal. I got a second opinion, and this time the Doc said he didn't think it was Otosclerosis. He said he could operate, but would normally only do so to correct someone's hearing to the level of mine. So I just live with it. It has been 3 or 4 years now, with no improvement and no worsening, so it's unlikely otosclerosis. No problem with the left ear. I wear headphones and/or ear plugs at all times when I'm working. I want my hearing to last as long as I do.[emoji4] I couldn't imagine not being able to listen to music.


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[Scott Hanna]

I have a problem hearing my wife sometimes.

But music isn't a issue.

 

[soundinmotiondj]

I have a problem hearing my wife sometimes.

But music isn't a issue.

According to my audiologist, wife related hearing loss is perfectly normal in a married man my age.

 

[Jeff Romard]

According to my audiologist, wife related hearing loss is perfectly normal in a married man my age.

And a necessity

 

[redhotdj]

wish I did too. I have whats called acoustic neuroma (a noncancerous tumor in the brain that affects the nerves that control hearing). My right side hearing is pretty much gone NEVER to come back. The Audiologist told me for my age and what I do my left ear is pretty good. My balance some days is so so and others you though I was a drunken sailor. Its a real pain in the ass, music sounds much different than before and for what I do that's NOT good. I have a very nice surround system in my living, doesn't do me much good now cant hear the right side anymore. Good part is my wife sits to my right cant hear her either LOL. But you know what there are people worst off that me so life goes on

 

[steve149]

I have a problem with something that affects the nerves that control my spending .. I haven't looked for a cure as yet.

 

[redhotdj]

I had the gamma knife procedure done if anything it made things worst

 

[steve149]

I had the gamma knife procedure done if anything it made things worst

My tinnitus is bothersome, but unless there is a medical necessity (like yours may have been), I'm going to stay away from any knife.

 

[redhotdj]

its not a knife its gamma radiation they just call it gamma knike

 

[Handinon]

Careful if your taking NSAID's for pain (i.e. aspirin, ibuprofen) - too much will also cause ringing in the ears.