Debi Ghose was always careful with her hearing. She has unusually sensitive ears, meaning that being in loud environments without earplugs can be physically painful, and her uncle, an ENT surgeon, lost his hearing on one side from an ear infection, making her "hyper aware of how fragile hearing is." All of which made her doubly alarmed when things started to go wrong.
She'd been booked to play on the Sunday of Bloc festival in 2016, and arrived on Friday night to enjoy the festival. She'd picked up some disposable earplugs at the bar, but at some point noticed that the one in her right ear had fallen out. "I woke up the next morning and had a searing pain, like white-hot painful, and mad tinnitus in my right ear," she says. "I couldn't believe it; it was just incredible pain. That whole night I couldn't even go near the venue, and then I had my show the next day. I knew it was the worst thing for it but I was there to play, so I played."
The above is from an excellent article called A music-lover's guide to tinnitus on residentadvisor.net, which contains this superb quote:
"Close your eyes, and think about what you're seeing. You don't see black, you see colours and lights and movement. That's partially the light coming in from the outside world, but it's also your brain trying to turn up the gain and see something out of the nothing that you're getting. You're seeing your nerves firing and working. And what we're hearing when we're hearing tinnitus is the same thing. Just your brain and your ear and your nerves working. It's a sign that the engine is functioning. I don't think that we can get rid of that, because it's a natural part of our body."
Click this link to read the original A Musician's Guider to Tinnitus article.
Posted by Steve
Steve Claridge
I have been wearing hearing aids since I was five years old, when a mild hearing loss was first diagnosed - now aged 45, that mild loss has progressed to a severe one and I rely on some pretty awesome hearing aid technology to be able to stay in the conversation. I'm passionate about helping people to understand hearing loss, hear more and communicate more easily.
Find An Independent Hearing Aid Centre in Your Area
Arrange a consultation with a trusted Independent hearing healthcare professional in your area
