Hearing Problems?

[Haamilton]

I've sure most of you have experienced the deadening feeling of having your ears overworked. But how many of you engineers have actually had the feeling stay for days at a time?

recently, i was listening to a Multi-platinum Mixing Toturial, when the Dead-centered Voice Over changed It's Panning to my Right ear only. I was wearing Headphones and instantly persumed that the cans we're breaking. But i checked and checked, and began to notice the next day a cotten like feeling in my left ear, as well as a painful feeling when listening to any music, regardless of volume, even on Monitors. D: - you could only imagine how terrifying this feeling is.

I'm not sure if it's hearing loss, as i'm rather young, 19 :|, but i wanted to know if anyone has ever heard of such problems/or experienced such.

in the last couple weeks, i've been mixing a lot of music, and recording quite a lot. I usually keep the levels at a moderate decibal.

[matthewfreedaudio]

What do you consider "moderate?" Are you checking the SPL at your listening position? How many years have you been listening to your music on you iPod? Do you play any loud instruments (electric guitar, drums, etc)?

It is possible to have hearing damage at the age of 19. What you are experiencing may be hearing damage or it could be something silly like wax build up.

Production Sound Mixing for TV, Film, and Commercials.
www.matthewfreed.com

[bigtree]

Doesn't sound good but,

I'm 54 and never had that sort of thing happen from music. I've been stupid and played music way too loud, and knew it. Later though, I shouldn't do that again and thankfully it only caused some ringing and the standard fatigue for an evening.
Take it easy, you have a lot of years left. Your ears are what separates you from being a musician or not!

I was once hunting with a group of teenagers years ago. We were in a very remote area and basically driving a truck and stopping everytime we saw Prairie Dogs. One of the guys in our group ( who is a Game Worden now) unknowingly plugged a 12 gauge with mud and like a complete reckless idiot ( did I mention he is a Game Warden now), shot the thing out the window while we were driving. The volume was deafening and the plugged barrel blew the side of the barrel apart like an egg . I lost a small percentage of my hearing for about a week. Its was a scary thing and I am waiting for the day my hearing goes in that ear.

Eat well, drink water, take some vitamins and take a break I'd say. Rest... at your age, it should return. You could be getting a cold too.

[Haamilton]

Funny enough, i don't have the possibility to play any loud instruments at my current apartment, but i've played drums in the past (and oh i do miss them) but I've never experienced a problem with my ears before.
and @bigtree - funny story i can't imagine that noise, especially while confined to such a small space o.O :| i've never truely valued my ears until just recently :| and i've always been so partial to headphone mixing, so i've been having a hard time switching over.

[niclaus]

i'd say run to your hear doctor.
That never happened to me like that but i've had some hearing loss after a really loud rock show (AC/DC) (even though i was wearing earplugs except for maybe 2 songs=those guys are crazy).
At your age things should go back to normal but, still, run to your hear doctor!!!

Good luck with that.

N.

[hueseph]

I have my hearing checked every two years. So far I only have some loss in my right ear in the 2k range(the so called nagging wife frequency). It may simply be an ear infection. Always good to get it checked out. I generally hate ear buds and in ear monitors. I can understand their convenience but you're putting all that spl almost directly on your ear drum with no vent. It can't possibly be good for your ears. I wear protection at concerts as well.

[TheJackAttack]

This is definitely a hearing problem. Go see your doctor. Once tinnitus and related problems start, they do not stop. Mine was caused not by reckless firearms and C4 but by an ear infection and TMJ. Headphones concentrate sound right on the tympanum and related psilia. Earbuds are exponentially worse on your ears and most of the younger generations can anticipate early and chronic aural issues from their overuse.

The rule of is actually to mix low levels to achieve definition and not loud dB's. Sure you check a mix at all volumes but that is just a check. A good technique is to lower the volume gradually and listen closely for the last thing(s) that are audible. Adjust, wash, lather, rinse, repeat.

[DrGonz]

The Jack Attack and the others are right on the money here... Take all of their advice. I use to jam w/ out ear plugs for hours on end and mix tons of material all around the same period of about 5 years. I hated to wear ear plugs since it killed the sound spectrum that was more natural. My thought was always if it is too loud for my ears then turn down, but we never did turn down. I don't get the ringing in the ear very often these days but back then it was a huge issue. I also suffered immensely from TMJ and that added to my discomfort that I brought upon myself.

These days I don't really listen to much of the new music and have not been jamming at all really. My ringing in the ear happens about 2-3 times a year now. Still, definitely I have damaged my ears and am trying to keep the hearing that I have left. Back when I was mixing a lot it became a natural thing to mix at very low DB levels. I realized that my hearing of lower DB levels made my ears work harder without working them hard. If you get headaches or such then you are pushing your ears too hard at any levels. I do believe that hearing loss is permanent, but I do also believe the human body has a way of compensating for these losses. These days occasionally I go mix something and my ears are so much more reliable than when I was mixing night and day. However, my ability to mix was sharper when I was doing it all the time and sometimes you use it at the risk of losing it. Just have a balance, avoid saturating your ears for too many hours on end, and takes lots of breaks. When you get to a point that you have problems then take a week off at a least. Also, go to the doctor if you really feel worried at all.

Lastly, avoid these so called "ear buds" as it seems you have made a connection to a cause of the problem within your posting. On a side note, I hated taking any phone calls from friends that wanted to talk my ear off on my cell phone when I was in the studio. Occasionally, I remember getting this call or two from friends that lasted 20 minutes or more while I was in the middle of mixing. When I came back the ear that I had mostly used on the cell phone was totally dulled by the experience. At that point of listening I went home within 5 minutes and came back the next day to continue my work. There is no point forcing your ears to work once they have been exposed to nasty behaviors.

[RemyRAD]

I've had two occasions in my over 41+ years in the business when I experienced a damaging Event. My first was as a young teenager. The headphone output of my Sony reel to reel tape recorder didn't provide for enough output level. It had built-in amplifiers to power the included speakers, so I knew it had enough power to drive the headphones louder. So I found the resisters that needed to be replaced with lower values. I put the lower value resistors in but then couldn't get any sound at all out of the headphones. (I was only 13) Being confused by this dilemma I was rocking and rolling controls all over the place when I finally found a switch in the wrong position. Whoops! Nearly instant deafness. I was panic stricken. Everything sounded distorted. Everything sounded like my head was encased in a large piece of latex foam rubber. I thought my career was over before it had begun.

Jump down six years. I was 19 and the overnight disc jockey on the number one rock station in Baltimore. Many radio stations would give away free tickets to rock 'n roll shows. A disc jockey would be assigned to attend the show and represent the station. I got chosen for Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band opening for KISS. This was 1976 and we didn't have any high-tech hearing protection back then. So I grabbed a handful of my mother's cotton balls she used to take off her makeup with (clean unused ones). When Bob Seger and his band took the stage the sound was fabulous and we were virtually right behind the PA mixers. I was there with other distracting who were all friends of mine summer which I went to school with. When KISS took the stage, I thought an atomic bomb had just been detonated. It was grotesquely loud. We were all crouching down in our seats behind the morons in front of us to try and reduce our exposure to the extreme sound pressure level. It was to no avail. When the concert was over it sounded like my hearing had loose parts in my inner ear. Everything was distorted sounding muddy and nondescript. This lasted for almost a week and thank God it's finally healed and passed. I swore I would never submit myself to anything like that ever again and I haven't. If I go someplace and the PA is too loud, I just leave. I'm a professional listener, it's my life, it's all that I do. I also love motorcycling and made sure that I purchased a nice quiet motorcycle. But the wind noise even with a helmet on can be quite fatiguing on long trips. So far, my hearing is still good nearly out to 18 kHz at almost 57 years of age. And well-balanced I might add.

Bear ass me again.
Mx. Remy Ann David

[BobRogers]

I'm 55 and have a bit of tinnitus and a dip in sensitivity at 3-5 kHz. That's very common in middle aged men. (It's the resonant frequency of the ear canal.) I've never had a major notable incident like others have been describing above, and I've been pretty conservative about my listening volumes over my lifetime, but I guess I was not careful enough.

The fact your loss is in only one ear and you can't point to a cause means that you should get to a doctor asap. It might be nothing (e.g. ear wax buildup) but if it something like an infection it could cause permanent damage.