I always asociate Tinnitus with William Shatner...and I think, god that must be hell to live like that.

Sorry to hear this man, ask the doc for some medical cannabis...then send me some.

I asscoiate tinnitus with my dad, who has it something fierce. But, dude is hard, he has learned to live with it I guess. Sucks, though, dude.

you see a good 60% more shows than I do, man. Depending on yr headphone volume tendencies you're just as susceptable as I am.

and leave my height out of this you tallist.

GODDAMNIT I DON'T WANT TO GET TINNITUS.

I don't smoke too much pot, but apparently, it makes tinnitus even worse.

I'm one of the "lucky" ones who managed to get tinnitus despite wearing earplugs at every show. I've even worn earplugs while mowing the lawn since I was a kid. Luckily it's not unbearably loud, so I do my best to avoid noisy situations that may make things worse over time - I don't hang out at crowded bars, and when I do go to shows (almost never), I position myself as far away from the speakers as possible and keep the plugs in the entire time, even between bands. Venues where it's hard to "hide" from the speakers are out of the question.

Try this- reduce your salt intake, caffeine, smoking and alcohol.

There's all sorts of info out there, but that's what helped me. I narrowed it down to too much salt, altho I've never had tinnitus. Related ear thing- spins, nausea, etc.

It may take a while (about 3 weeks for me), so don't give up.

Good luck.

fp

Edit: You'd be amazed at the amount of salt in prepared foods- soups, TV dinners, etc. It's gross. I have a high metabolism, and need to eat constantly, so I was eating 4-5 microwave meals a day, at about 3x the daily rec. of salt.

I've lived with this for at least 20 years. It's not going to go away, I just hope it doesn't get worse. I can't recall what "silence" is, I can't remember ever experiencing true silence, the ringing is always there. My Dad got his first hearing aid at 40, because like me, he can't discern individual voices in a noisy room--party, restaurant, board room, etc. I'm probably not too far behind.

Sucks big time. Shatner claims to have attempted suicide because the ringing was driving him out of his skull.

If you don't have this condition, and you go to shows, do yourself a favor and wear ear plugs.

I don't think I have full blown tinnitus, just get ringing in my ears once in awhile, which makes me think that I'm not that far off from it becoming an all the time thing.

I have some earplugs but I always forget them when I go to shows. I'ma put em on my keychain.

i keep mine on a cd rack next to my door and usually add them to my keychain before i walk out for any show. i've even turned around from blocks away to get them if i know it'll be an abrasive show.

Been wearing earplugs to shows for almost ten years. One of the wiser choices I made in my college years.

I have mild tinnitus. It seems to have subsided a little over the past several years.

Anyway, in addition to the long list of possible things that can contribute to/cause tinnitus, we should add infection. A bad head cold can leave you with some tinnitus. And there's not much you can do about it.

AH! ringing's just started! i've been sitting at my computer for almost an hour and just now heard some buzzes in my left ear. it'll hopefully subside soon. this thread's making me paranoid.