Paul B

Marie, Tinnitus is fairly easy to get, I believe. If you don’t get it from age or infection, you can get it easily from sharp or loud noises. You can also get it from certain medicines, particulary asprin. Were you exposed to any loud noise recently? Or are you taking new medicines? Sometimes the the effects from noises and medicines are not imediately apparent. You probably want to ask a doctor, though. I hope your tinnitus is temporary. Sometimes it is. To illustrate the various ways you can get tinnitus from loud noises, my wife lost 50 percent of her hearing in one ear and got a severe case of tinnitus when attending a parade. Before the parade started, some kids were having a “battle of the bands,” seeing who could beat their drums the loudest. Before she covered her ears, it was too late. The damage was done. I lost a little hearing and got tinnitus from gunshots in the army, on the firing range, before they used hearing protectors. The tinnitus wasn’t severe. I could forget it much of the time. But a year ago I went to a commemoration ceremony in my town. There were Revolutionary War reenactors and Civil War reenactors there, with guns. (They are big on this sort of thing in Massachusetts.) Knowing what I do about gunfire, I was going to block my ears. But I thought that they were far enough away from me when they fired the guns. I was wrong! The guns of the Revolutionary War reenactors were not loud. But the ones that the Civil War reenactors fired seemed like they had double or triple charges in them. I knew they did damage to my hearing and probably to others there also. I thought this was irresponsible. I feel that they had to know what might happen. I was going to sue them and the town. I contacted a couple of lawyers but they weren’t interested. I didn’t contact others but might do so yet. The tinnitus is almost unbearable at times. They deserve to be sued. But I would like to get the message out to others who might not realize what they are being exposed to. Even lawnmowers and particularly blowers can be damaging to your hearing. By the way, for the person who wondered about getting compensation from the Army, I asked the VA about hearing damage. They said it’s impossible to get compensation on it. (Don’t get the idea that I’m a compensation “hound.” I’m not. I feel that the Army should have provided protection.) Former members of most European armies do get compensation for hearing loss and tinnitus, by the way. Anyway, even if you have tinnitus and hearing loss, take precautions for not making it worse.