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Eric
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User
Posts: 23
(5/16/01 6:16:38
pm)
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Risks of ringing
in ear(tinnitus) from cello?
Hi all.
I was wondering if I might get some feedback as to
the risks of contracting tinnitus from playing the cello. Is it a
concern? The reason I'm asking is that I have a mild form of it
myself, which seems to have cropped up in the last few months. I've
been playing cello for about a year and a half now. I've also had an
ear infection 6-8 months ago, and that's probably the cause; I
thought I'd ask anyways and get some comments on the
subject.
Eric
Edited by: Eric
at: 5/16/01 6:18:58 pm
|
drcello
Registered
User
Posts: 376
(5/16/01 6:45:08
pm)
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| Edit
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I have this
problem
Not from playing the cello as such, but from my orchestra position,
right in front of the brass. I still remember when my tinninninni
(whatever) started up. We did Prokofiev's Seventh symphony. The next
morning I was partially deaf, then started ringing. That was about
three years ago. All of my hearing came back, but, I still have
ringing that comes and goes quite a lot, and is quite loud. After
that I took to wearing ear plugs. Now we have some plexiglass
shields. Watch out for the brass!
Marshall C. St. John
drcello@vei.net
Read Cello Related
News at:Cello Heaven
World Cello News
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AaronReeves
Registered
User
Posts: 157
(5/16/01 9:35:33
pm)
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|
Me too.
I also have tinnitus. Not from cello, piano, or even percussion! I
started noticing it when I was in 4th or 5th grade I think. I'm in
11th grade now, so I've had it for a few years. I have no idea what
triggered it. Hmm.
Aaron
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zambocello
Registered
User
Posts: 588
(5/17/01 2:33:16
am)
Reply
|
Always use ear
plugs in front of wind instruments!
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cellochris99
Registered
User
Posts: 172
(5/17/01 3:40:21
am)
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|
Re: Risks of
ringing in ear(tinnitus) from cello?
Are you refering to the type of sound under the ear when playing
cello? Does your cello have a bright or piercing sound under the
ear?
Chris
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Tim
Janof
Administrator
Posts: 224
(5/17/01 10:28:28 am)
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Re: Risks of
ringing in ear(tinnitus) from cello?
I don't know what causes tinnitus. Is there a doctor in the
house?
Anyway, I have a friend in the Phoenix Symphony who
has it pretty bad. Orchestral playing is particularly problematic
for him. He's talked to several doctors and tried everything from
low-salt diets, vitamins, to this white noise generator thingy he
has in his ear now, which some doctor Oregon says could do some good
in a few years. Most discouraging.
|
DWThomas
Registered
User
Posts: 330
(5/17/01 11:18:24
am)
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Re: Causes of
ringing in ear(tinnitus)
Well, I'm not a doctor (I just play one on the Internet  ) but...
Undoubtably there are cases induced by illness or infection, but one
of the primary causes is exposure to loud sound. There was a real
horror story about a year ago in Early Music America where a
musician took his kid to a Smashing Pumpkins concert and has never
been the same since. A serious case of tinnitus is not exactly an
asset for a professional musician's career.
In addition to
the obvious things like standing in front of the trumpets, firing
handguns without ear protection and hanging around industrial
stamping presses, the simple act of cranking up your Walkman a few
notches for long periods can apparently have similar
effects.
I often wonder about the occupants of cars that go
past my house where I can hear the ta-BUMP ta-BUMP while the vehicle
is a quarter mile away. I have read that today's crop of 18 to 25
year olds are showing hearing performance like would have been
expected from 65 year olds a generation ago.
Dave -- whose
tinnitus experiences have thankfully been brief and
temporary.
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bridge
Registered User
Posts: 109
(5/17/01 11:58:25 am)
Reply
|
Please Protect
Your Hearing
I went to a lot of rock and roll shows in college. I usually (but
not always) used ear plugs . . . sometimes wads of toilet paper if I
forgot. (Screw being cool.)
I saw the Violent Femmes inside
of an acoustical tin can about 20 feet from a wall of Marshalls. I
had ringing in my left ear that lasted days (not just "a day" as had
happened a few times before). To this day (about 15 years later) I
always hold the phone up to my RIGHT ear.
This is very
serious business!!
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Len
Thompson
Registered User
Posts: 188
(5/17/01 2:49:05 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Please
Protect Your Hearing
Well, I'm not sure about tennitus, but hearing loss caused from
exposure to loud noise can cause permanent damage. The way I
understand it, you have these little hair type thingy's in your
inner ear, and they are literally blow off by loud sounds. The
damage is permanent, and can cause a permanent ringing in the ear,
as well as hearing loss. I don't think the cello produces enough
db's to harm your ears, but the brass section sure could!
Len
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cyn38
Registered User
Posts: 45
(5/17/01 5:34:15 pm)
Reply
|
Re: Risks of
ringing in ear(tinnitus) from cello?
*digs out nursing textbooks, looks up details on tinnitus*
('tinnitus' is the correct spelling, btw)
Tinnitus: the
perception of sound in the absence of an acoustic
stimulus.
...usually described as a ringing in the ears,
although may be perceived by the patient as roaring, sizzling,
whistling, or humming.
...intensity varies greatly pt. to
pt.; often is slight and noticed by the pt. only at night when other
sounds are minimal, other times loud and continuous and may or may
not be accompanied by hearing loss. May be unilateral (one side) or
bilateral.
..."Although the mechanism that produces tinnitus
is not thoroughly understood, it can be a symptom of nearly all ear
disorders. In many cases it is the first or only symptom of disease,
and any pt. complaining of tinnitus must have a thorough examination
to determine cause."
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
...exact mechanism
that causes is unknown, however it is known that tinnitus can be
caused by a disturbance anywhere in the ear, as well as in the
acoustic nerve, brainstem, or cortex..
(blah blah blah about
2 major disorders: Meniere's disease and acoustic
neuroma)
...external causes include obstruction of the ear
canal by foreign bodies or cerumen (ear wax); pts usually describe
the sound as low pitched, muffled, and intermittent. These pts may
perceive their own voices as having a hollow sound.
(blah
blah blah about middle ear causes)
Acoustic trauma ...caused
by very loud noises, frequently produces high-pitched tinnitus and
may be associated with a temporary hearing loss. These symptoms
should warn the patient that the ears should be protected before
exposure to loud noises or a PERMANENT hearing loss may result. The
pitch of tinnitus in these patients is usually near the frequency
where their hearing loss is the greatest.
(blah blah blah
about tinnitus being caused by certain drugs, or by anemia or
hypotension (low blood pressure).
Okay, great. Now what do
we do about it?
Surgery? NO! Not unless you have an
underlying disease or disorder that is the CAUSE of the tinnitus,
like a brain tumor or otosclerosis. No surgery is warranted for
acoustic trauma. Aren't you relieved?
Medications? I'll get
back to you on this one. I'm going to have a visit with a couple of
the ENT (Ear, nose & throat) guys tonight at work.
Management? unknown, other than "giving the patient a radio
or masking unit to drown out tinnitus or to make it less noticeable
to the patient." 
I
will ask my ENT Doc's at work and explain the musician exposure
angle and get additional information and let you know. If any of you
have tinnitus that you believe is not due to acoustic trauma (ie.
getting your ears blasted from the brass, or a rock concert type
setting), email me, and I'll give you lots of other info I didn't
think was applicable to this discussion of 'acoustic' trauma.
Good luck with the ringing...and protect your
ears!
--cyn, rn
cynsymphony@aol.com |
cyn38
Registered User
Posts: 46
(5/18/01 9:17:22 am)
Reply
|
The Doctor is
IN
As promised, I had a long visit with several of the ENT Doctors at
work last night.
The normal human ear can withstand 90 db
for 8 hours. 90 db ia like sitting next to a loud vacuum-cleaner.
The ear can be exposed to 100 db for 4 hours. A loud jack-hammer
would be approx 110 db, and isn't recommended past 2 hours. Though
it's possible, hearing loss doesn't usually occur until 110db, and
most of the time, your own practice, and/or that of the full
orchestra roaring away, doesn't exceed 110db for any extended period
of time. However, (and this is IMPORTANT)...the idea of ear
protection is still mandatory!!!
The very fact that you're
musicians and depend heavily upon your ears in order to do your job,
dictates that you always protect them from the least amount of
trauma. I posed the scenario of a full section of brass blaring
toward your ear on a pretty regular basis, and was admonished to
very clearly advise all of you (especially orchestra memebers) to
ALWAYS wear an ear plug(s) to protect your ear from acoustic damage.
Now a word about ear plugs, straight from the Docs that deal
with people every day who are subjected to loud sounds as part of
their jobs: The little foam plugs are fine for most settings,
perhaps even for you if you sit far enough away from the horns If you're
still concerned, or you're lucky enough to sit right by those guys,
then a custom-fit ear mold would be the better choice. These can be
made for just one ear, or both, but the great thing about them is
that built into them are little holes that allow much of the sound
to be filtered down to an acceptable level. You'll still hear all
the important stuff you need to, (though as mentioned in recent
threads, being able to hear various and sundry maestros may or may
not be among those things you want to hear), a filtered sound
instead of a distorted sound will allow you to tune, blend with
others, balance...all those things that are the essense of what we
do in this business.
And here's good news: Of the three ENT's
I 'interviewed', the concensus was that it is very rare that they
have seen(non-rock band) musicians suffering hearing loss or even
long-term tinnitus. Their advice was that if you're someone that's
currently suffering from 'ringing', then you should:
(a)
check in with your doctor and bring up these points
(b) get a
baseline hearing test. Down the road if you do develop any hearing
loss, it will help in a disability/liability situation
(c)investigate getting a custom fit ear mold to wear in
whichever ear faces the brass. You might not need it every concert,
but it'll come in handy when the brass show up in
force!
Still have questions? These Docs are dear friends, and
I'd be happy to take back questions if you have them.
--cyn,
RN
cynsymphony@aol.com Edited by: cyn38
at: 5/18/01 4:55:33
pm
|
lblake
Registered User
Posts: 351
(5/18/01 6:55:08 pm)
Reply
|
Re: The Doctor
is IN
Thank you! That's very interesting! I've recently become interested
in ears because I was just diagnosed with Miniere's disease within
the past year. I decided, through the process, that if I were to be
a doctor, I'd want to be an ENT! They get all the cool stuff and fun
toys!
But, I digress.... might you ask your doctor friends if
there is ever any association with sound trauma and disorders like
Meniere's disease (aka "true vertigo")? I can't quite figure that
connection, and don't remember my ENT asking me questions about
sound trauma, but I'm curious. You know - these ears - they're very
interesting and mysterious things! Thanks!
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Eric
Registered
User
Posts: 24
(5/18/01 7:17:39
pm)
Reply
|
Re: The Doctor
is IN
Thanks Cyn,
It's a relief to hear that I can wail away on my
cello and not worry about my ears. My tinnitus is the type that I
notice at night or in a silent room. Like I said, it's mild, but I
never noticed it before, my perhaps flawed conclusion is that my
tinnitus has gotten worse.
I think that it might be the ear
infection. Could you ask your ENT friends if it's possibly a result
of an ear infection? I had a hearing test a little while ago. My
response was okay, though maybe a little low in the high frequency
range. Anyways, my left ear has been feeling stuffed for months,
that is usually the side where the tinnitus is the worst, could you
ask them about that too? Is it temporary?
Oh, one more thing.
I have bad seasonal allergies, stuffy nose, sneezing, the whole nine
yards. Could that be it?
Many thanks for your
help.
Eric
Edited by: Eric
at: 5/18/01 7:20:43
pm
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