I recently had a hearing test and was described as having some hearing loss in the high register.
I have noticed myself that I frequently am saying, “Pardon”, and having to have something repeated, confirming hearing loss to some degree.
I am really quite worried about further loss as I’ve woken up in the middle of the night recently and heard… Crickets!!!
Tinitus… maybe only mild but I don’t want it to get any worse.
Whenever I remember, and am not too bombed, I will put in a pair of Musicians Earplugs. Cost me $50.00 but I figure what price is your hearing? Pardon???
I try to remember to put them in for every practise . Yeah Right!!! See bombed!
Not even close, but I think I should .
I wonder what all you whistle /flute players do.
I have tinnitus in one ear, which I attribute to an ear infection I experienced a few years ago. It’s not severe, but is pretty much constant. I usually don’t notice it, unless I think to listen. But a few times a day it will increase in volume for a few minutes, as if to remind me.
I sometimes wear earplugs when playing high whistles, particularly if I’m in a small enclosed space. I ALWAYS wear them when I use machinery like lawn mowers, etc… You don’t need to spend a lot on earplugs, though. You can buy simple, but effective foam plugs in packs of 10 for a few dollars (US).
I damaged my ear some 35 odd years ago, as a young lad and the high notes of some whistles reverberate quite badly in my left ear, almost not at all with the flute, but I always play with a set of Elacin ear plugs, if you get the good ones $150 ish dollars mark, they pretty much dont affect the sound quality you hear, but really do cut the high frequencies.
if I can find the case I will let you have the model number.
I did have a cheap pair some time ago and they stopped most of the nasty fequencies but also muffled the sound.
I worry sometimes about whether high whistles contribute to hearing loss, yeah.
But, no, so far I have not used ear plugs while practicing or playing at sessions.
I spread my whistling across various whistles - a low D, a brass A, and a Burke narrow-bore composite high D, which isn’t too loud. By doing some of my whistling on lower pitched whistles, and by making my high D a not-terribly loud model, I hope that I’m minimizing any hearing loss potential.
But… so far, for me, whistle is not my main session instrument. If whistle does become my main session instrument, then I’ll need a louder high D whistle. If that happens then I’ll have to consider the ear plugs, I think. Sometimes I’ve felt ear discomfort sitting near certain other whistlers at sessions.
Ahhh, tinnitus, my constant companion for many years in both ears. When I finally brought it up with my doctor and he asked me if it was like a ringing in my ears I finally said yes it was (prodded by my “ex” wife). Silly me, when I heard people talk about ringing in their ears I always thought they meant like an alarm clock or telephone!
Just curious about your using ear plugs. Doesn’t having them in exaggerate the ringing?
Thanks for the reminder to use the ones I have; they work very well and don’t interfere with anything but volume of sound.
I got Hearos - a set of 2 high fidelity ear filters - 2 to a pack with cases - a couple of years ago for about $18 I think - maybe from Musicians Friend online.
I figure that if anyone has reason to be concerned, then that’s reason enough to wear earplugs. Personally, I’ve never encountered any whistle that I felt was damaging, but so what? Bagpipes are loud, pipe organs can be very loud, but whistles are whimps by comparison. When we perform I usually wear them. Our speakers have warning labels that say “DANGER. This device is capable of producing sound at levels known to be harmful to humans.”
Hi,
I have tinnitus in both ears (also caused by an ear infection in my youth), and when I began to play the whistle, I had the feeling it was worse for about half an hour after playing, then it returned to “normal”. I have tried earplugs but did not like it (probably my tinnitus is not bad enough yet ).
My solution at the moment is practicing on a Bb-Generation. It does not seem to affect my tinnitus, although it is not so much lower than a high D (but I cannot promise that this will work for everyone).
If I should ever play in a session, I may have to use ear plugs though.
Take care of your hearing! I spent many years in the Air Force, working around jet engines. I was quite cavalier about wearing hearing protection in my younger days. Now my hearing is shot. The whistle is one of the few things I can still hear clearly.
Just so. I’ve had tinnitus in both ears since childhood. I though everyone had that.
I suppose if the cause is otoacoustic emissions, it might, but I think most of the
time it’s caused by the receptors thinking there’s a sound when there actually
isn’t. If there isn’t an actual, physical soundwave, then there’s nothing to
bounce off the earplugs…
I have had tinnitus for many years from working near whining steam turbines. Ear plugs do exaggerate the noise I hear. But the idea is to protect the hearing that is left.
I am not sure as to the cause of tinnitus. When I mentioned mine to my doctor, I was told that it is actually quite common. Anyway, my left ear is the worst, and it is also the one that tends to be more cloggy. As for it sounding louder with ear plugs, my guess is that it does mainly due to the outside sounds being attenuated by the ear-plugs. Also, as DIY audiophile, when I listen critically to my amps and recordings, my tinnitus seems to get louder, which is probably more of a psychological effect.
Anyway, I prefer to listen to things quietly, if possible. I haven’t noticed my high D (Burke DAN) being too bad, although the high B can be loud. My advice, I suppose would be err on the side of caution and use ear-plugs, especially if playing the louder whistles.
Do the cheaper ear-plugs really muffle the whistle sounds sufficiently to be annoying? I expect that you’d easily get used to them.
I never wear earplugs playing whistle, and I would probably start wearing them playing guitar before I did whistle. My band practices with half stack marshall amp, 250 watt bass amp, drum set and vocals get pretty loud, but they are nothing to live shows. Sometimes my ears ring for a day or so after shows, but wearing ear plugs would spoil the fun.
I Guess the reason I promoted this topic is to help make folk aware of hearing loss from whistles/flutes or whatever!!
Hearing loss, to any degree, is non reversable and forever!!
I play whistles and flutes, and am these days very aware of the volume of sound I produce.
With the flute the sound is very loud in my right ear, pariticularly the high A & B notes.
With whistles, both ears similarly feel the vibrations.
I’ve never had a decible test done to confirm these feelings-hearings, but it’s my opinion that damage will result with sufficient exposure to these high notes.
All I am advocating is to consider/ wear musicians ear plugs to preserve your hearing. Once it’s gone…It’s too late to undo the damage.
I always travel to gigs with a set of Musician’s earplugs.
I also take a pair to any concert I attend, as these sometimes break the sound barrier.!!!
Don’t go for cheap!!!
There is a reason that Musician’s earplugs cost a lot more.
For your info I have no shares or interests or particular desire in promotiong Musicians earplugs. Just judge for yourself
I think you’ll find that going deaf will also spoil the fun, permanently. If you are ears are ringing after a show, then you are already harming your hearing, even if it “seems” to recover later. Buy yourself some good in-ear monitors, and you’ll still be able to turn up the volume, feel the bass, and hear the music, without destroying your hearing. You can read more at this rock-oriented site.
I’d be interested to know why “cheap” ear plugs are not the way to go, especially for those of us who are not professional players.
What I am thinking of are the kind of plugs that give 30 to 60 dB attenuation that can be purchased for when using power tools. I have some that I use when doing woodworking, they are some kind of foam, my other pair are a fancy shaped plug. Anyway, they cost around $20 at Home Despot.
I expect that the reason for having specialized musician earplugs is mainly due to either the ability to charge more money for them OR because of the degree of attenuation across the audible frequency spectrum. I simply don’t know.
These ear plugs are inexpensive. Maybe if I were a professional musician, I would want really, really good plugs, but recommending expensive earplugs may actually deter some folk from using them, and I would advocate that (within reason) cheap earplugs are likely better than none. Of course, I could be wrong.
As it happens, my whistle only sound piercing to me when I play high B. My Burke DAN is a quieter whistle. I expect that when I finally obtain a louder, session capable whistle, then I may seriously want to consider earplugs for practice sessions.
AND, I agree about it being better to avoid any kind of hearing damage, even if it is fun to play music loud and finish with ringing ears - I am reminded of going to Motorhead and Hawkwind concerts in the 1980’s - the old Manchester Apollo could really rock!
Thanks for the links. I did find a supplier of the ER20’s which are less than $25. That was why I questioned the necessity of purchasing expensive ear-plugs. In fact, my Home Despot earplugs are very similar in design to the ER20’s.
I certainly don’t think that anyone would think you “uncool” because you wear earplugs at a session. Mind you, they may be risky in a pub because you wouldn’t here the guy saying “the next round is on the bloke with the earplugs”
).