PROTECT YOUR EARS - ear plugs, hearing loss, deafness

Post gig ear trouble, any advice??

Hi Guys,

Last night I did a gig and forgot to take my ear plugs. The room was horrid, the sound in there was extremely loud and very boomy, especially in the bass end frequencies.

This morning I woke up and am having some troubles with my right ear. Its very sensitive to noise, although sounds are also slightly muffled at the same. I get a 'pulsating' sensation every now and again in my ear, my balance has become slightly off and finally, the area around my ear, temple and above my right eye is fairly hot to touch, and also feels slightly numb.

I am getting concerned about this as ive never had this problem before, only ever had the usual slight ring after finishing a gig which has usually gone by time I awoke the following day, so I will be seeing my doctor ASAP.

Have any of you guys experienced this or anything similar? I dont have any ringing in the ear, nor do I have a loss of hearing, just a bit muffled. I would really appreciate anyone taking the time to rest my mind on this.

Thanks as always guys.

Neil
 
Re: Post gig ear trouble, any advice??

I had an eardrum rupture in the middle of the night. I could not walk to the bathroom to vomit, I had to crawl.

Sounds like you have a pretty bad ear infection that was exacerbated by the extra loud noise. Do see your doctor and share with us what he/she has determined so we can learn too....
 
Re: Post gig ear trouble, any advice??

The best advice I could give you is see a doctor ASAP and don't forget your ear plugs ever again.
 
Re: Post gig ear trouble, any advice??

radiofriendlyunitshifter said:
that's no good man. do tell us what the doctor has to say. good luck.

and zumba zumba, what was the cause of your ruptured ear drum?
Click to expand...

As far as I could tell it was a nasty (as opposed to good) inner ear infection.
 
Re: PROTECT YOUR EARS.

Hey guys,

Been the doctors today, she took a look and decided pretty quickly that there was an ear infection goin on in there. I hope she is right, the only thing that puzzles me is why this would happen after an uncomfortably loud gig, surely not just a coincidence?!

Anyway been given some anti-biotics so I hope they start to work pretty quickly because I am going to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers tommorow and then on Wednesday goin to see the one and only VINNIE COLAIUTA playing with Jeff Beck, followed by 3 gigs of my own on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Couldnt have come at a worse time! argh!!
 
Beware of Tinnitus!

Tinnitus is a really scary thing that could happen to any drummer. A lot of the young drummers out there just go to loud concerts and play drums without ear plugs, not even knowing what the repercussions are. Tinnitus is FOREVER and if I had it, it would just drive me insane. For for info go here > Beware of Tinnitus Drum Article

Any thoughts or experiences?
 
Re: Beware of Tinnitus!

I developed an intermittent form a few years ago when I fired a cap gun in my ear. Not big, not clever. It only ever comes up for a few minutes and it's not too often, but it is damn annoying. Always, always, for the love of God wear ear plugs. Or ear defenders. Or SOMETHING to protect your ears. I recommend Doc's Proplugs. I've been using them for seven months now and I wouldn't know where I'd be without them.
 
Re: Beware of Tinnitus!

I have tinnitus constantly in my right ear, and a fair amount of hearing loss, as well. I wish I'd known when I was younger that i needed protection.

I find that I don't notice it too much if there is some other sound, but when things are quiet it can bug me. I also notice when it comes up in conversation, like now!

I still have trouble being comfortable with earplugs, but i try to wear some kind of hearing protection as often as possible. I don't want it to get worse.
 
Re: Beware of Tinnitus!

I became wise and started using protection 10 years ago or so...I even take some small plugs when I see a show.
 
Re: Beware of Tinnitus!

My singer goes into denial whenever i tell him that you should wear ear plugs (never listen to your singer btw) and he says that his ears can hack it and they are stronger than regular ears...we practise 1-2 a week for about 5 hours each time...that ten hours of exposure to db's of over 200 atleast (hard rock band)...anybody got any ways i can get him to use earplugs?...maybe a scare factor or something
 
Ear Protection

I've been thinking recently and I really really want som kind of ear protection for drumming at practices and gigs. Docs pro plugs are what I've been looking at. But I just came across some "Alacin ER20" ear plugs that are the same price and are apparently made in a similar way to their £150 plugs (something like that anyway). So could someone who has experience with these please tell me what my best option would be? Oh, also, are docs pro plugs better vented or non vented?
Thanks :)
 
Re: Ear Protection

I'm looking into ear protection, too. I'm not too fond of earplugs (sticking something into my ear is not my idea of a good time) and I was thinking of going with the Vic Firth Isolation Headphones. They claim to reduce ambient noise by 22-24dB, plus you can listen to music.

Can you give some more information on the plugs you're looking at? They seem to be UK-only. What dB rating do they have?
 
Re: Ear Protection

I honestly dont have a clue. The Docs Pro Plugs are meant to be very good and are what most poor musicians seem to use and recommend. The others I mentioned look terrible. They arent see through and basically make it pretty much as obvious as possible that you're wearing ear plugs - stupid looking ones at that.
Heres a link to the Docs Pro Plugs: http://proplugs.com/musicandnoise.shtml
Seems to be around 20dB reduction. While the Vic Firth headphones seem good, they arent very practical. I honestly cant imagine going and playing at a gig with those on... And when I play to music at home I already have some isolating sony headphones (basically cheap, less effective versions of the firths) and some isolating earbuds. Wearing both of these basically lets me hear what I'm listening to really clearly while blocking much of my drumming sound.
Still not sure if I should get vented or non... Vented ones seem kinda uneffective on that chart of theirs =\
 
Re: Ear Protection

I've been using Doc's Proplugs since last Christmas, and I must say they're excellent. The reduction is more than sufficient for most musical situations and the clarity of the sound is much better than with cheaper foam plugs. They fit very well if you get the right size. Certainly no complaints.

Highly recommended.
 
Re: Ear Protection

MFB, do you have vented or non-vented? The site recommends vented for musicians, but they don't really seem to have much dB reduction.
 
Re: Ear Protection

I use these, they were recommended to me by our bass player who works for rolls royce testing thier jet engines or whatever it is he does http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx he uses them himself at practice and at work, they reduce the overall volume level evenly keeping things nice and clear.

The only problem I find with using ear protection, is that it doesn't matter to me how good or even the overall effect is, there's still no substitue for that flinch and twitch when you hit a killer rim on a cranked up snare hehe you just don't get the same feeling fropm playing so I usually end up playing without
 
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