How is Stewart's Hearing?

[georgygirl]

Good idea Mrs. Gradenko

[blueboy]

Wow! I never thought this would be a hot topic.

And to have Stewart actually answer my question almost makes up for the fact that I missed my only opportunity to see the Police play live on the Synchronicity tour! Well no, I'm still really upset about that, but it is really cool for fans to be able to communicate with their musical mentors this way.

By the way, thanks for the concern GeorgyGirl. I had really bad Tinnitus for 6 months straight, and never thought it would subside, but it has faded enough that I can forget about it sometimes. It now only gets bad when I am stressed. Also, I am much more sensitive to volume than before. My ears start to feel like they are "protecting themselves" whenever I am exposed to loud noises.

There are many possible causes, but unfortunately there are no cures.

I have a slight hearing loss of hi mid frequencies in both ears, but it is not too bad. Those are the frequencies (2-5 kHz) that our ears are most sensitive to, so they are usually the first to be damaged. My left ear has a little more loss than the right (I'm blaming a drummer friend of mine and his ride cymbal for that), but I'm not sure what the cause is. These are the worst frequencies to lose because they affect your ability to hear certain sounds in speech.

Anyway, it is good to here Stewart uses ear plugs. I sometimes wonder what is going to happen to all those kids with their iPods 20 to 30 years from now. Headphones are the worst because you can't "feel" how loud they really are, compared to blaring speakers, and it is very easy to cause permanent damage very quickly.

You don't realize just how valuable your hearing is until it's gone.

JL

[Grace]

Evening blueboy!
How's the weather in Vancouver today?

[Grace]

Oops - he's gone! I hate it when that happens!

[blueboy]

I was just off reading that link to the Ink19 article Stewart posted...

Awesome weather here today! I took along a light jacket, but had to take it off it got so warm. We've been really lucky this fall so far.

How's T.O. been?

JL

[Grace]

Thanksgiving weekend was out of this world gorgeous. Today it's taking a turn toward autumn.
Rain tomorrow etc etc. I have no patience for rain so I'd never make it as a BC'er. I need my daylight. Moderate temperatures or not.

[blueboy]

Well I'm originally from the Prairies, so I'll take the rain any day over minus 40 winters!

It can get a little depressing after a long rainy stretch in winter, but every time I travel and then come back home to Vancouver, I realize why I live here. It is just such a gorgeous place when it is sunny, that I'm willing to put up with the rain.

JL

[Grace]

Lots of people are in love with Vancouver. Furthest west I've been is Kelowna (on business). Whoopee!

[georgygirl]

This topic is very useful for me.

I am learning a lot, and as BlueBoy said:

[quote]I sometimes wonder what is going to happen to all those kids with their iPods 20 to 30 years from now. Headphones are the worst because you can't "feel" how loud they really are, compared to blaring speakers, and it is very easy to cause permanent damage very quickly.

You don't realize just how valuable your hearing is until it's gone.
[/quote]

I am a teacher of teenagers, and I think is good advice to tell them what could happen if they abuse with the volume of their iPods

I am a Philosophy teacher, and I love this Aristoteles MaximuM:

"You have to find the equilibrium iat your middle point"
Is some like you don't have to exceed nothing.

Thank you very much for all these comments.

[Divemistress of the Dark]

I thought that about Alaska when I visited last month. I'll grant you, it's really cold (even in summer) and it pours rain, but when it's clear? Wow. And that's even before you factor in the Northern lights and the spectacular wildlife...

(I wasn't even there six hours before I nearly ran over a moose by the side of the road. He would have made mincemeat out of my front end, too...Moose are really tall. I parked a respectable distance away to take his photograph, and he was at least a 30 cm taller than I am (I'm about 1.6m tall). Amazing.)

[sockii]

Wow, I'm glad to finally know I'm not the only one with a "fan addiction"! But without it I just go nutty because of my ears.

When it's cold I just point the fan at the wall, so it doesn't blow on me. I might check into one of those waterfall devices--unless the cat's would decide it's a toy or try to drink from it...

[georgygirl]

I just tell to one of my sudent's classes, and they don't know anything about this ill.

Thanks guys to share it here.

My students told me that they will take care of their ears.

[iburn4u]

[quote="blueboy"]Wow! I never thought this would be a hot topic.

And to have Stewart actually answer my question almost makes up for the fact that I missed my only opportunity to see the Police play live on the Synchronicity tour! Well no, I'm still really upset about that, but it is really cool for fans to be able to communicate with their musical mentors this way.

By the way, thanks for the concern GeorgyGirl. I had really bad Tinnitus for 6 months straight, and never thought it would subside, but it has faded enough that I can forget about it sometimes. It now only gets bad when I am stressed. Also, I am much more sensitive to volume than before. My ears start to feel like they are "protecting themselves" whenever I am exposed to loud noises.

There are many possible causes, but unfortunately there are no cures.

I have a slight hearing loss of hi mid frequencies in both ears, but it is not too bad. Those are the frequencies (2-5 kHz) that our ears are most sensitive to, so they are usually the first to be damaged. My left ear has a little more loss than the right (I'm blaming a drummer friend of mine and his ride cymbal for that), but I'm not sure what the cause is. These are the worst frequencies to lose because they affect your ability to hear certain sounds in speech.

Anyway, it is good to here Stewart uses ear plugs. I sometimes wonder what is going to happen to all those kids with their iPods 20 to 30 years from now. Headphones are the worst because you can't "feel" how loud they really are, compared to blaring speakers, and it is very easy to cause permanent damage very quickly.

You don't realize just how valuable your hearing is until it's gone.

JL[/quote]

I'm new to this site and hope I'm not butting my nose into this thread but it's so nice to see this being discussed here that I thought I might be able to add a bit of clarification. This is a subject close to my heart (audiologist here ) It's terrific that many here are using plugs at concerts. You can get custom made musicians earplugs that will give a flat response to the music and not cut out the fullness of the sound. Music at a rock concert can have peaks in the 120dBSPL level which can risk your hearing after only minute of exposure. Scary stuff!

Between Baby Boomers ( myself included ) and the iPod generation, the rate of hearing loss is going to sky rocket. One of the problems with iPods and MP3 players is that, unless we are wearing noise isolation earphones, we turn up the volume to hear music over background noise (traffic etc). It doesn't sound loud in comparison to the noise around you but it is. It's the absolute sound pressure level at your eardrum that is important, not the perceived level of loudness. If you can't hear someone talking to you in a normal voice, you may risk your hearing.

Just to clarify, the 2-5 KHz range is damaged first with noise exposure because the hair cells (nerve endings) are at the first turn of the cochlea (inner ear shaped like a snail) so they take the brunt of the energy of wave. All sound, if it is loud enough will cause damage.

I would love to get Stewart, Sting and Andy in a sound booth to check their hearing. Years of playing will take a toll on the ol' ears.

I'll get off my soapbox now.
P.S. Lived in Vancouver for years. Say hi to my favourite Canadian city Blue Boy. Hope you bump into the boys while they're there.

[blueboy]

Welcome iburn4u!

This is definitely an important enough topic to bring up again...especially if this site starts to attract a younger audience due to all the reunion talk.

Hopefully we can help get the message out to the younger generation before it's too late.

I think you picked the right profession to be in though, as (unfortunately) there will be no shortage of potential patients for you for quite some time.

As for bumping into the band...somehow I think I'll have to wait for the show in Vancouver (fingers crossed). It is kind of bizarre though, to have been such a fan for all these years without ever having the chance to see them...and then they suddenly show up in your hometown out of the blue!

[georgygirl]

[quote]This is definitely an important enough topic to bring up again...[/quote]

Thanks to remind me about this topic. I have new students this year, and many are always with their I-pods. I have to tell them about tinitus ill. For sure they don't know anything about it and how their ears could damage in the future.

And also thank you very much for new information.