Are there other musicians out there that are losing their hearing?

Question

I've had Meniere's disease for about 11 years now and my hearing is pretty much gone. Although I can hear the sounds loud enough with a hearing aid, everything sounds like S H I T. Just noise. I've been playing the piano and other instruments for 32 years, (I'm 38) but I haven't been able to listen to music (on and off it comes and goes) for about 5 years. Lately it just gets worse and doesn't get any better.
I'd like to hear your stories.

Answer 1

Hey, guy, I'm sorry to hear it. I have been playing and composing (and listening, of course!) for a long time. Didn't actually hear a lot of loud rock at concerts (maybe about 50 in my life I'd guess) so can't explain it, but in the last 5 or 6 years my hearing has gotten worse and it distorsts sometimes and I have trouble with mainly the speech area around 1000 cycles (herz), which is a typical symptom of just "regular" hearing loss (in me the loss is about 15% left, 17% right). My ear pressure was checked recently and found to be "normal" by an audiologist who says it is nerve damage so no hearing aids would help (none, that is, except those $50,000 surgically implanted inner/middle ear ones), but I am not so sure and will explain why shortly.

Some orchestral stuff sounds pretty much the same as it always did, but some sounds (and this is going to sound nuts) either like the composer is an idiot for combining "gauche" sounds together (and believe me I like Stravinsky and other moderns, etc.); it's almost (not quite) like the French composer Gabriel Faure who was said to have had hearing in the later years of his life that made bass notes sound a third lower and treble ones a third higher - I have at times heard high guitar riffs sound about 1/2 step higher than the key itself but this is not a consistent phenomenon; or at other times it sounds like someone is "EQ"ing certain notes to make them stand out too much, which in a way is interesting because I have to admit sometimes it lets me see something new (despite the fact I have perfect pitch and used to get A+s in Music Theory). Mostly piano sounds normal. Sometimes loud stuff kills my left ear and sometimes I even have to plug it if people talk too loud, especially if they start talking to a friend on their cellphone and are passing right by me! Kids shrieking in public restrooms sometimes hurts me so much I have to ask their father to make them be quiet until I leave (and of course papa could care less that I'm in pain and says that's how little kids are going to be, refuses to discipline the kid who is just acting normal and then the dad acts like he wants to challenge me to a duel or something). How crazy is that!

I don't know if I have Meniere's or not because I also have high blood pressure (with some slight dizziness if I wait too long to take the meds, but have also had unexplained infrequent dizziness that's not the result of a heart problem, etc.) and had some damage done to my left eardrum at a recycling center when someone dropped a lot of glass. I also had a job where I used equipment without proper audio protection and lost about 2 dB's from my right ear as well, and I also suffer from occasional tinnitus. So it could be a combination of stuff in my case. In my case it is particularly ironic because I used to make money in the industry years ago - mainly arranging (although let's face it that is not a reality for anyone anymore). I find the study of music history and musicians' biograhies to be a way to stay in the game, and find some reassurance in other art foms as well as reading in a lot of fields. You have my sympathy and don't hesitate to keep in touch thru my profile. You do not have to be alone in this.

By the way uyutrtrcjygvk: you're an ignorant fool. Meniere's disease is not caused by abuse to the ears at all. Go check it out.

Answer 2

I am...I been playing the guitar for a bit now, and I guess I've had my amp too loud and too close to me...so now, I can barely hear someone talking within five feet of me. Also, since I probably played shows without any hearing protection, I'm also losing my hearing from that. Everything sounds okay if I play loud enough, but I'm also starting to get tinnitus. it's pretty bad.

Answer 3

Yes, I've lost much of sounds over 2000 CPS. I'm a piano player and never had to play in front of speakers; just old age hitting where it hurts!
I wear hearing aids now most of the time too, but not when I'm playing. Stubborn.

Answer 4

I'm a former band player and I listen to music
loud at home and when i D.J. and my hearing
is gone bad to
Depending on how far bad it's gone ;You mite
be able to recover or get a dr. to help.
What I've done is; TURN THE MUSIC DOWN
to where i can just hear it. I'm think it 's working
When a song comes on i what to hear loud
I allow 1 desble higher but I have saved what's left
of my ears. dr. said my hearing is a littel better but not
much. good luck

Answer 5

Sorry to hear that Pablo. It must seem like one of life's unfair ironic jokes. Hang in there, though. You are lucky in that you know what music sounds like. You were not born deaf. And remember, Beethoven composed Ode to Joy while completely deaf and it is the best piece of music ever composed. No one ever came close to getting it with or without there hearing. Good luck from a fellow ivory banger.

Answer 6

My sister has the same problem, we are a musician family, so you can imagine how sad was to know she was hearing a half tune lower in her right ear. She went immediately to the audiologist and he told her she needs a hearing aid to make her hearing normal again.

So, I would highly recommend you to go to a professional right now. The problem with the audition is, if you don't treat your ear soon you will keep loosing your hearing.

Good Luck

Answer 7

I'm so very sorry unfortunately i am not a musician i would like to be but my aunt has hearing aids because when she was little she got a concussion and she lost quite a bit of her hearing she plays the piano and does ballet. that oracle person is a ****** ***** ignore them.

Answer 8

The generation of rock and roll musicians that got their start at the Fillmore Auditorium, and other venues in the early 1960's all suffer from hearing problems because they were playing at 110 db, without ear drum protection.

Answer 9

Take heart Pete Townsend talked about it and so have members of Rolling Stones and Mettalica. In the big pic even Beethoven went through it too. Keep playing.

Answer 10

James Taylor