Go away, Mr. Tinnitus, no one likes you!

Gavin, just so you know you're the reason I first came to this site last year. I hope you do get better and can continue to make your ever-so-brilliant music.

I have tinnitus, it's not fun, but at least in my case it's not debilitating. It is a bit distracting when I try to go to sleep though.

As long as the case isn't to severe he should be able to continue playing and enjoying music though.

Formica Archonis:
Wow. Someone who does music for a living getting tinnitus. Hope you get better, Gavin!

Actually that's not that uncommon, being exposed to the levels of sound that music is usually played at for the amount of time it takes to play proficiently often leads to permanent ear damage, the symptom of which is tinnitus.

AnarchistFish:
I thought tinnitus was permanent? I've had it since I was 6

In most cases it is, although apparently tinnitus can go away if it's just the temporary ringing caused by short exposure to loud noises, for example how a person's ears might ring after going to a concert but still get better in the morning. Other times it's permanent; being caused by either constant exposure to loud noises or something else.
I've had it since I don't know when, but I was officially diagnosed last year or so.

Really sorry to hear this. I've had tinnitus before, and it sucks when you're trying to go to sleep.
Here's to hoping it gets better, man. Love your work.

All the best on your recovery Gavin, I really feel for you. I have minor hearing loss from being in a band and my dad has really bad Tinnitis that keeps him up at nights and he can hear audibly over minor background noise. It's a horrible thing and I'm hoping it gets better for you.

As a fellow sufferer of tinnitus you have my sympathies, you should take as long as you need. It's better that you're fully recovered than if you return too soon and do some permanent damage, all the best.

Hope it clears up soon, Gav! Man, I can't imagine how bad that it is.

Hope you get better Gavin, glad you are getting the time to recover.

A forum badge? Yes!
I get to try to pester Gavin some more with my stupid, idiotic questions? YESS!

What to ask this time though? "As a potato, is it difficult for you to come to terms with your cannibalism?"
"How many crazy fan girls have thrown their panties at you?"
"Coke or Pepsi?"

My choices are endless!

Also, I have another brilliant plan to cure your tinnitus; we must sacrifice another to bear the curse.

I humbly will sacrifice one of my roommates for such a cause (do not worry, as hipsters they aren't real people). What we need to do is present the sacrifice to you tinnitus in a pleasing manner, performing the chant with six others, as the dance of sacrifice is done. We will need the blood of a Boston Terrier that is ill from ringworms for that to be done right. Following that, we'll...

Hey, where're you going? I swear this will work! I didn't even get to the part with the goat!

Here's hoping it's the temporary one; I suffer from minor tinnitus and there is nothing worse than knowing I'll never get to experience true silence again.

There's a term for that sort of thing? Because I've been dealing with ringing in my ears for pretty much my entire life...maybe I should go see a doctor?

MiracleOfSound:

No harm in talking to a doctor about it, if it bothers you.

Well that's the thing I've had it for so long that it doesn't really bother me that much anymore. I do have to sleep with a fan on or else I focus too much on the ringing and can't sleep though.

Get well soon Gavin, I hope it clears soon.

Wait, wait, wait. Tinnitus...is that a sickness?

No, I'm serious here! I think I might have it too. I always hear this high pitched noise that sounds kinda like a cricket ringtone (If anyone knows those). It doesn't seem to affect my every day life. I'm pretty good at hearing very high and very low notes/noises. Everything in between? Not so much. But it's nothing alarming. It's not like it makes it impossible for me to hear. It's just there as background noise.
If I suffer from that too then...this is news to me!

Anyway, I digress. I really hope you get better soon. If anyone needs it, it's you.

MiracleOfSound:

Ardenon:
never knew it was a desiase, so if I say keep hearing ringing in my head, how would I know how bad it is? I either get used to it or listen to something to ignore it, can't say I felt it as an affliction.

It's not a disease, it is a symptom.

If you have had it and it didn't feel like an affliction, then you're one of the lucky ones. For those who have it loud and constant, well, it's the worst thing I've ever been through and I've been through quite a lot.

I knew a guy who had this constantly, from years of beeing in the music business,
he was a drummer until this showed up on his doorstep.

Continued for years, causing him to grow more depressed, even needing medication to stop his depressions and it tore him apart in the very bad moments when it really got bad.

He said it could drive him mad.

Sad to say, it tore him and his family apart.

For this reason i always bring earplugs to concerts.
The thought of it scares the h*ll outta me.

Hoping you get well soon Gavin!
*crosses fingers*

Gavin, you and everyone else who has Tinnitus, please take your time to recover, but don't get worked up about it. I have Tinnitus for many years now, and I regret to say that people taking pity on you are NOT doing you much favor.

Since so many here aren't aware of it: Tinnitus is a symptom for many different causes. It varies extremely from case to case, and how long it stays depends on many factors. But if you suffer from it for more than 1 day, you should see a doctor. If it has to be treated, every day you wait CAN make it less likely to be cured (depending on the cause).
The general consensus seems to be that it's a malfunction in your hearing nerves, so they become too alert or send wrong signals to the brain. Everything from noise to a slightly shifted placement in your vertebra that presses a nerve, stress, infections, even a lack of magnesium in your body can cause it.

Mine is bearable, but it becomes almost deafening when I'm really stressed out or depressed. Which of course makes things worse. Then, I started seeing it as a sixth sense similar to touch: It's an impression that is always there, and when my health is in danger (=when something makes me stressed or depressed), this impression becomes an unbearable warning signal, exactly like pain. Pain is natural. Once my mind accepted this, the regular buzzing bothered me much less, and I didn't let stronger Tinnitus stress me even more.
It's only as bad as you look at it. It sounds insane and impossible, but accepting is the key. Here's why you shouldn't talk to it to everyone: They will constantly remind you of it by taking pity, thus make you pay more attention to it. Pity will also reinforce the idea in your mind that this fucks every minute of your life. Once you believe that, it WILL.

My case prooves this. I got a 8-day tinnitus from my first concert (I stood right next to the giant speaker). Everyone was worried SICK that I'd have this forever. After it went away, I was quite careful with any noises above comfort level and always carried earplugs to concerts. Many years later, on a quiet day, it simply popped up and stayed. Since I was young and already suffered a Tinnitus from a concert, my doctors firmly believed I got it from loud music, and treated my small hearing impairment for months. When they finally admitted they were following a false trail, it was too late for most other promising therapies. By then, I got so used to fear and avoid anything that could further damage my ears. I developed a phobia of loud noises.
Countless situations make me extremely panicky because of this. Jackasses who prank people with these stadium horns make my blood boil. I can't go to clubs without earplugs, but you can't talk to anyone as long as they're in. If I manage to take them out, I get so nervous that my ears start buzzing like crazy (because of stress, mind you). So the fear that my Tinnitus will get louder actually makes it louder, which in return reinforces my phobia. Think it's stupid? Ask people with arachnophobia. They know that it's unfounded to fear microscopic spiders, but they can't help it.

To finally end this atrociously long post, I just hope I could raise some awareness and help someone out there. Find ways to live with it while doing your best to cure it. Be patient and strong. Don't make the same mistakes I did. And always remember you're not alone.

Hope for the best, dude.

I got mine almost 12 months ago and up to now I don't what caused it. It all started one night when I was reading up a Gawker comment about the condition so after that, I took a shower, went to bed without listening to music from a stereo for once and noticed it. The night after, my ears felt hot, sometimes pain pop up (which I haven't had since I was a kid), and other weird stuff. Went to a specialist 3 months after it and the end result was either pills or electroshock therapy; I haven't took the pills due to the possible side-effects though i sometimes wonder if I should consume them. Fortunately, I only seem to notice when it's silent,when I'm pressing my head against the pillow, or the pain on both eardrums appear for maybe 10 or 20 seconds before disappearing maybe once or more a day. Though a couple of months ago, I starting hearing my own swallowing that does a tack sound and sometimes I can hear the hollow air flow of me making heavy breathing on my right ear.

Yes, I have been using headphones for my computer since high school but I'm sure I didn't hear any ringing when i slept with no CD to listen back in December and it's scary that reading that knowledge was also when all those symptoms appeared the day after I read about tinnitus. I have a feeling though blood flow is helping the condition considering that the noise is always amplified when I try sleeping on a bed no mater rather there's music playing or that the fan is on. Chocolate maybe key too but only seem to notice on two times when I bite into a brownie and the ringing also was amplified but only for a moment despite salt and chocolate only being able to stay in the body for a day.

Sadly, I honestly don't know what to do considering I fear the pills but shocking a brain is very unappealing and yet I think going back to the ear doctor would be a waste of time.

Ouch, that blows. My Dad has Tinnitus from going to one too many Motorhead concerts. I imagine that it really sucks for a musician like Gavin. Hopefully his treatment goes okay.

I hope this period of off time that Gavin has is best for him. I hope him a speedy recovery, and will continue to buy his music. One thing I do hope to come out of this is that he'll have the time to play games, and get ideas for songs, but doctor orders were not to record, so hopefully he'll have many songs ready to be made when he's back.

Best Wishes!

I hope it's only temporary. For those of you who want to know what it sounds like to have this 24/7:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE5fIoveLoM

Just awful. Happened to me once after an idiot blew a cracker near my ear. Got better though after a few months.

I rarely visit The Escapist nowadays, but most of times it's because of Gavin's works.

I hope his condition will improve.
For what it's worth : hang on there and get well Gavin !

Nasrin:
Submit Your Questions for the Upcoming Miracle of Sound Q&A!

Hello Escapists!

As you may have heard, our very own Gavin Dunne has been stricken with an awful case of Tinnitus. For those of you that don't know, Tinnitus is a terrible affliction of the inner ear that causes you to hear a high pitched ringing sound at all times of the night or day. So, in order to make the best of his recovery time and still give you that monthly dose of Miracle of Sound that you've grown to know and love, we're launching a Community Q&A!

You can now submit your question using the form below, and you'll receive a limited edition forum badge just for entering! We will then select some of the best out of the bunch and our Publisher's Club Members will vote for the top ten to be submitted to Gavin, where he will answer them live on camera. Be sure to check back on December 20th to see the video and find out if your question has been answered.

Don't wait! Question submission period ends this Friday! If there's some deep, dark secret question that simply burns within your chest, now's the time to ask!

Permalink

No questions, but my best wishes for you mate and hope you get better.

I hope you get well soon Gavin!

Gav, I really hope you get well soon. I love the music you make, and I'm thinking all the good thoughts in the world for you.

My uncle has the exact same thing. Think he said it had something to do with guns & the military. After 30 years, I don't think he really notices it anymore.

I can't really remember a time when I didn't have tinnitus. It runs in my family. It was infrequent when I was a kid, but it has been permanent at least since I was 14, and that was 7 years ago. I've had my hearing tested recently, and I got a perfect score. The tinnitus hasn't had any effect on my life, aside from making it difficult to fall asleep in a silent room. I always sleep with a fan on, and I'm almost always listening to music when I'm awake, so it's rare that I notice the ringing.

My dad has a worse case than mine, but he didn't get it until he was 12 years into his military career. I think he said that it started the day he spent 10 hours in a Hercules without hearing protection.

Get better, Gavin!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

That's neat. I hope you get better soon Gav. I have to say, I was wondering how you got started making miracle of sound songs. I too am an avid video gamer and musician, and find what you do a very cool blend of the two. So I guess I wonder how you started up and how you go about choosing games to write on and writing songs for them.

Feel better man.

I don't have any questions, I just wish Gav a speedy recovery! Get well soon dude!