# Tinnitus Problem
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 3, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661 "2006-12-03T04:45:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/1 "2006-12-03T04:45:55Z")
I have tinnitus that comes and goes. I’m also taking piano lessons.
I just finished a couple hours of practice, and my ears are banging away. This happened this afternoon, too. I’m not working on anything that’s loud as hell - Mozart’s Turkish March and A Chopin Prelude (Op.28 No. 4).
I can put up with the damn noise in my ear, but am I wondering if I’m injuring my ears trying to learn piano. Does it mean I’m hastening a loss of hearing just because I’m causing my ears to ring?
Should I wear ear plugs? It may sound idiotic, but people who wear plugs know you can hear stuff semi-ok, so I could live with plugs during practice.
Please give me your advice.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/2 "2006-12-03T06:57:45Z")
See your MD. Stay away from aspirin, etc. Add Magnesium - normal RDA to your diet. Keep away from loud noises.
Yes, wearing earplugs might be a good idea.
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### Author:  [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/3 "2006-12-03T08:24:32Z")
Wear ear plugs. Yes, it is that loud. Otherwise, your ears wouldn’t be ringing. Just the opinion of another tinnitus sufferer.
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### Author:  [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/4 "2006-12-03T11:22:42Z")
Sadly, I too am in the tinnitus gang (big time). Piano is too loud for me also. I can bear it, but I sure as hell have earplugs in when I am playing my drums! I think you should be fine learning piano with earplugs in.
Most of the fine things in life have a worsening effect on tinnitus - caffeine, red wine, pot, loud music… _sigh_
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### Author:  [@victor512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/victor512)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/5 "2006-12-03T11:25:27Z")
Try some ER12s from Etymotic Research; they’re musicians earplugs good for 20dB and except for volume sound no different from being without earplugs. Under $20.
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### Author:  [@victor512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/victor512)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/6 "2006-12-03T11:26:49Z")
Er, ER20s.
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### Author:  [@Nothing\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nothing_Special)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tinnitus-problem/382661/7 "2006-12-03T13:34:33Z")
Here’s the Wiki page: [Tinnitus - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus)
It includes a pretty thorough list of some of the “treatments” available for the condition. There is no established cure.
Different people’s neurological systems react in different ways to the wear and tear inflicted by the environment. The ambient noise of the normal world is much louder and more destructive than most people are aware of. Consider the relative and unfamiliar silence one experiences when the electricity goes off in one’s residence. The low hum that’s usually there is taking its slow toll on hearing. Louder noises take more. Some start having serious hearing issues sooner, and more severely, than others.
I’d suggest moving to the country and going solar, though it’s impractical for most. Even the sound of the coyotes yowling in the distance in the middle of the night is easier on the ears than a neighbor starting up his Harley that he drives to work at 4:30 every morning, etc.