Does playing piano cause deafness?

[faulty_damper]

I have tenitus.  Worse in my right than my left. 

I used to play on a very bright Yammie because it was never voiced.  I voiced it myself recently.  But the timbre was very bright.

[Bob]

I know my ears didn't like being in those practice rooms that barely fit a grand piano.  esp when I was tired to begin with.  I vaguely remember checking once with a decibal meter.  I believe it was 90dB which I doubt is good on the ears after a few hours.  I've practiced with earplugs and headphones.  That helps to get rid of distracting sounds from neighboring practice rooms -- the horrible ones as well as the discouraging great ones.  You can also try closing the lid, covering the piano, trying to find a room with carpeting or wall coverings.  I didn't like doig any of that, but it was better than having my ears feel like the sound was pounding on them.  The best thing is a nice big concert hall to practice in.

[Spatula]

I have tenitus.  Worse in my right than my left. 

I used to play on a very bright Yammie because it was never voiced.  I voiced it myself recently.  But the timbre was very bright.

You already have tenitus young man?  ouch that's sad to hear (mind the pun).  I recommend reading up on Changs book because it does address it. 

[Bob]

Spatula, What's it say?

Tenitus is just ringing in your ears, right?

[janice]

Correction, it's spelled "tinnitus"! LOL  Hey faulty, I didn't know you had it.  I do too!!  This is cool!  (What a dumb thing to get excited about!).  So what does yours sound like?  Mine sounds like a window air-conditioner going full blast all the time!  I've just learned to ignore it, but I've heard that it can drive some people to suicide.  I believe it!!  When it's windy outside, I can't hear it, (when I am inside) because it is on the same pitch.  Maddening!  Someone said to me the other day "Man, did you hear that wind last night?"  So I gave them a blank look with a "huh?"

So faulty, what does yours sound like?

[Spatula]

I can sometimes here a VERY faint ring that sounds the equlavent of the dial tone on a phone but higher pitched.  This only occurs if I breath very lightly during falling asleep or not doing anything at all.

I went for a hearing test because I was concerned, but the audiologist said I still had a very good receptive rate of hearing %99.63 percent of the sounds emitted from the test lab in the sound proof room.

You should also take a cotton swab and take out that ear wax that builds up in the extreme cases.  I do it the asian way and get one of those metal mini scoops to dig the stuff out: HIGHLY DISCOURAGED if you don't know the proper technique you can actually puncture the ear drum which is bad to say the least.

[faulty_damper]

I have tinnitis in the high frequency range.  It's a high-pitched ringing.  I once set off a firecracker in my room accidentally.  I turned my head sout of shock to the left so my right ear got the blunt of the POP!  I couldn't hear out of that ear for a while and everything was all muffled.  I'm sure that blew off a few hair cells.

[Spatula]

I have tinnitis in the high frequency range.  It's a high-pitched ringing.  I once set off a firecracker in my room accidentally.  I turned my head sout of shock to the left so my right ear got the blunt of the POP!  I couldn't hear out of that ear for a while and everything was all muffled.  I'm sure that blew off a few hair cells.

thats not good

[Sketchee]

You should also take a cotton swab and take out that ear wax that builds up in the extreme cases.  I do it the asian way and get one of those metal mini scoops to dig the stuff out: HIGHLY DISCOURAGED if you don't know the proper technique you can actually puncture the ear drum which is bad to say the least.

Both of these are discouraged and can damage your ears!  Instead, you should buy an earwash at the drug store.  The wash will also do amuch more thorough job of disolving and removing the wax

[Spatula]

You should also take a cotton swab and take out that ear wax that builds up in the extreme cases.  I do it the asian way and get one of those metal mini scoops to dig the stuff out: HIGHLY DISCOURAGED if you don't know the proper technique you can actually puncture the ear drum which is bad to say the least.

Both of these are discouraged and can damage your ears!  Instead, you should buy an earwash at the drug store.  The wash will also do amuch more thorough job of disolving and removing the wax

Recommened by 1 out of 9 doctors  (The chinese ones)

[Tash]

ooh how do you know if you have tinnitus? like i have some crazy high-pitched noise in my ear that i generally ignore cos i've had it since i can remember, but sometimes it can get louder when i'm lying in bed and stuff. is that normal? probably nothing.

[janice]

ooh how do you know if you have tinnitus? like i have some crazy high-pitched noise in my ear that i generally ignore cos i've had it since i can remember, but sometimes it can get louder when i'm lying in bed and stuff. is that normal? probably nothing.

I'm not sure how it can "officially" be diagnosed.  You might want to see an audiologist.  But if your tinnitus doesn't really interfere with everyday-life, then I wouldn't be too concerned.  You're right, it can seem louder when you are in bed, or alone in a quiet room.  I would give anything to actually have a minute of silence!!

[Spatula]

Do you wear headphones to listen to music?

[faulty_damper]

Most people will notice some kind of ringing in their ears if enough of their hair cells have been rendered damage.  Apparently, the ringing occurs because the brain isn't getting feedback from those damaged cells and becomes hyper sensitive which causes the ringing.  There is hope, though.  Scientists have figured out a way to trick the brain into thinking the cells are opperational again by using some high frequency thingy to imitate what the brain should be picking up from those cells.  But as with all things, it isn't permanent and the tinnitus will come back in 2 or 3 weeks.

[Tash]

hmmm interesting. now i'm aware of the ringing! do you reckon i could've somehow gotten it- i was in a car accident when i was 6 and fractured my skull, so maybe i'm just a bit messed up in the head!

[Spatula]

hmmm interesting. now i'm aware of the ringing! do you reckon i could've somehow gotten it- i was in a car accident when i was 6 and fractured my skull, so maybe i'm just a bit messed up in the head!

which explains why you draw nudie pictures

[piano_learner]

I suffer from tinnitus probably attributed to the loud music being played in the nightclubs I went to in my teens.

Mine sounds like the high frequency squeel at TV emits (The scanning beam). Around 13-15KHz. I tested this with a tone generator at work. I slowly adjusted the frequency until I had trouble distinguishing between the tone and what was naturally being played by my ears. It was very weird.

Someone mentioned about forcing the brain into recognizing those frequencies (which I also read about) which prompted me into conducting the above experiment. I believe it's similair to the phantom limb syndrome amputees suffer, or the way some people experience an increase in one of their senses when they lose another. ie/Blind people haveing more sensitive hearing.

The parts of the brain that were once used by those areas become occupied and used by other parts (sometimes with detrimental effects).

Scientists surmised that people who have damaged their ears to the sensitivity of certain frequencies develop tinnitus because the brains natural AGC (Automatic Gain Control) begins to compensate by increasing it's sensitivity.

[Tash]

wow piano_learner that's interesting with the tone generator thing. i love it how i learn so many interesting things here, piano and non-piano related!

spatula i draw nude pictures because i am an artist and take life drawing classes every week. however the cartoon was the only non-serious one i've ever drawn so neeer

[Spatula]

So you stare at naked people for an hour or two everyday...hey sounds like fun; you'll be my first project.

[Tash]

actually it's only 1 day aweek for 3 hrs and it's not naked it's 'nude'- yes there is a difference in the art world an australian art critic wrote a massive thing on it

[Spatula]

actually it's only 1 day aweek for 3 hrs and it's not naked it's 'nude'- yes there is a difference in the art world an australian art critic wrote a massive thing on it

Nude = Naked

[Tash]

no nude and naked in art are different. nude is when you have all those old paintings with the idealised figure and is meant to be a symbol of beauty, and the fact that they're not wearing any clothes doesn't make you uncomfortable, eg the nudes of titian, botticelli, whoever.
naked is the opposite, when the fact that they're not wearing clothes makes you uncomfortable, like look at lucien freud's paintings and compare them to titian's and you'll notice the difference

[Spatula]

uh huh.

How about you put a stripclub next to a nude museum.

[Tash]

do it yourself

[Spatula]

Sure, but I'll have a tough time deciding to either put you in a zoo or the mental asylum.   

Maybe then you'll give me free shows. 

[Tash]

i am not crazy yet! give me another 20 years and then you can put me in the mental asylum with schizophrenia and manic depression mwhahaha i can feel the cadmium and lead paints absorbing into my skin everyday and slowly killing me...

[Spatula]

Thus making you draw naked people.

[Tash]

don't talk about things you don't understand, ie. the human body in art

[Spatula]

Understanding to me is what I perceive with my senses, thus people without clothes are naked: for art, sexual gratification, cleaning, changing, etc etc etc. 

[piano_learner]

Understanding to me is what I perceive with my senses, thus people without clothes are naked: for art, sexual gratification, cleaning, changing, etc etc etc. 

If a cat were to walk across the keys of a Piano creating a cacophony of sounds that your ears could perceive, you would regard it as music?

I think there is a difference between being naked and artistic nude. Just like there is a difference between a moviestar and a 'ham'.

[Bob]

Understanding to me is what I perceive with my senses, thus people without clothes are naked: for art, sexual gratification, cleaning, changing, etc etc etc. 

I think there is a difference between being naked and artistic nude. Just like there is a difference between a moviestar and a 'ham'.

 
Yes, one is serious.  The other may be a flop.
 

[Tash]

yes it's like classical music vs pop/r&b/rap/hiphop/etc music of today- one is classy and the other is rubbish