Anyone with hearing problems?

Bill Yoder · Post by **Bill Yoder** » 11 Feb 2006 12:26 pm

bout 20 yrs ago,i got hit with mineires syndrome.it gradually destroyed the hearing on my left side.I have been playig lead guitar for 60+yrs,the last twenty with one ear.started to play steel about 2yrs ago,really enjoying it.the fisrst of the year my right ear started to go down,doc says i may have the same thing in tnat ear i had in the other.I,m sure hoping it isn,t.I,ve played some really good players and some not so good,but respect all of them for what they,ve accomplished,and i sure don,t like the idea of not playing with them anymore.we have some of the most talented people on earth right here on this forum,i just want to say guys,apprerciate what you have while you still have it.sorry to ramble,but talkin to you guys is like talkin to family.
it sure ain,t a sin
to play a steel and grin

(makes you happy)

Mark Fasbender · Post by **Mark Fasbender** » 14 Feb 2006 9:44 pm

Go easy on All anti inflamatory drugs (aspirin , advil etc. ) Too much salt can also agravate the condition. Wearing earplugs whenever possible can help reverse it. Avoiding digital audio helps too. just dont subject yourself to such high SPL's. I havent pointed an amp at my head in 20 years, that helps too.

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Got Twang ?

Mark

Tracy Sheehan · Post by **Tracy Sheehan** » 15 Feb 2006 9:11 am

I posted about this on another forum some time back but will again to caution the young players and any one about hearing aids.
When i started havin trouble understanding what people were saying back in the early 70s i got hearing aids.They only made people mumble louder.
Later i went to an ear surgeon.Before i didn't realize how complex the human ear is.Found ut i had nerve deafness which i caused by being exposed to loud noises.
Ther is no cure and no mater what the hearing aid places tell you, no hearing aid will replace the damaged nerve.
Now if you have a hearing loss so as you have to have things louder,tv,music,etc,hearing aids will help.
Now to repeat my rant.LOL.
That was about the time many drummers and bass players started to play lead and be more loud than the rest of the band put together.
And about the same time no one could sing with out about 14 monitiors on the band stand pointed at you.(It gets worse).lol
The steel player sits down so naturally the best place to set the bass amp is right behind the steel player and the drums in his left or right ear.
Most bands have been too loud for so long,yet i had trouble understandng what
song was announced.I always turned the moniotors away from me as they were so loud.
Hey guys and gals,protect those ears.Again,hearing aids do not help (nerve deafness) but can help hearing loss.Tracy

Gary Lee Gimble · Post by **Gary Lee Gimble** » 15 Feb 2006 11:30 am

<SMALL>Anyone with hearing problems</SMALL>

Selective hearing problems; keeps wifey in check

Mark Lind-Hanson · Post by **Mark Lind-Hanson** » 15 Feb 2006 12:58 pm

For once I feel I might be helpful in this regard- This morning's SF Chronicle reports on a new computer program designed to help with hearing loss-called LACE
the link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/artlist.cgi?key=DD&directory=/c/a/2006/02/15

George Plemons · Post by **George Plemons** » 15 Feb 2006 6:29 pm

I have listened to many steel players over the last couple of years, and yes many of them have hearing problems.......................just joking of course. I had my right ear drum blown out by an incoming mortar round when I was in Viet Nam. Surgical graphing of the drum can be done and I had it done. Thats the good news. Here is the bad news, before the surgery in 1979 I had 30% hearing in that ear, I have been deaf 100% ever since in that ear!! Yippee, always remember that half the doctors you meet graduated in the bottom half of their class....uh oh.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 15 Feb 2006 9:17 pm

What?

Don J. Dixon · Post by **Don J. Dixon** » 20 Feb 2006 3:23 am

I went to a Tim McGraw concert at the War Memorial in Rochester, NY. I'll bet he has a pretty good band but I never heard a note because it was too darned loud. On top of that there was all those screaming women. The only way an audience member could enjoy it was to be deaf already. Reading about your problems I can only wonder why the sound engineers do this. If it was an industrial situation, OSHA would say it was illegal.

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GFI Ultra D-10, Airline 6-string lap steel
steelsanta@aol.com
steelsanta@aol.com

William Steward · Post by **William Steward** » 20 Feb 2006 4:10 am

Brad and others...thanks for the tips about tinnitus. I have suffered from it for the past year. I think I was too close to the speakers for TSGA Hal Rugg tribute combined with several other factors like getting my ears cleared with a warm water syringe, head cold, taking ibuprophen, etc. I will try using the ear plugs more often when playing and working around the house. I did go to an E,E,N&T specialist and like Brad's hearing mine is as good as can be expected for 53.....just this high-pitched ringing in my right ear!

Webb Kline · Post by **Webb Kline** » 20 Feb 2006 5:51 am

They make ear plugs that reduce volume evenly through the whole frequency spectrum. That's the way to go.