View Full Version : Tinnitus
Is there lot of pilots who suffer from tinnitus? How is it reacting to flying and is flying making it worse? How are you coping with it? Cockpit and airport area are both pretty noisy environment so I guess pilots who suffer from tinnitus aren’t uncommon either. I would like to hear your thoughts as I have suffered mild tinnitus now 9 months but during the past three it’s slightly getting worse. I also changed from jet to turboprop so can this constant hopping with short sectors affect to my tinnitus or can the reason be just some other non aviation related?
Appreciate your replies
Not aircrew, but long term Tinnitus sufferer, there are a number of folk who are looking at anti Malarials (particularly Latium) as having some involvement in development of Tinnitus!
cavortingcheetah
22nd Jan 2018, 22:02
I've no idea whether many hours on large turboprops affected or caused tinnitus but I do wish that I had had the opportunity to fly with something like the Bose A20 aviation headset. They are very pricey at £1,000 but that's only £500 an earful and better value than those damned Quasimodo sound effects.
jack11111
22nd Jan 2018, 22:14
Tinnitus is often caused by common medications such as NSAIDs (ibuprofen). There are many others that will cause this.
Check the prescribing information on the meds you take.
Loose rivets
23rd Jan 2018, 10:45
Mine started c 1979 when shooting pistol competitively and TREing on the Bandit. Sheesh, that's a noisy machine. I then had an ear infection which made it difficult to lie on either ear. A dull pressure ache.
I was prescribed Terramycin. Bad, bad choice it seems. Look up links with tinnitus.
A later problem - and seemingly an American professor, Fatima Husain, has linked the problem with racing minds. It's certainly true in my case. Sadly I'm too old for her studies but was greatly interested.
Ringing in Ears Keeps Brain More at Attention and Less at Rest - Neuroscience News (http://neurosciencenews.com/tinnitus-attention-7378/)
In haste
The trick is to not focus on it. If you constantly think about it and are conscious of it you'll make yourself crazy. Ignore it and you'll find it fades into the background and ceases to be a worry for you. It's still there if you happen to think about it you mostly don't or shouldn't
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I have been trying it but its hard and will take time to habituate. However my concern is that is flying making it worse now as it seems much louder than it was during last summer. I wanted to know if there are any other pilots who suffer from Tinnitus and have experience how flying as profession affects it. As noisy as the aviation industry is I believe that there can be lots of pilots with this issue but few are talking about it. Medical wise its not problem as long as your hearing is also okay. Just checked mine and even the doctor was surprised how good my hearing is, almost 0 level in all frequenzies. My T started after loud club night last April so there was no medicine etc involved, just noise exposure that "broke the barrier"
Are you professional pilot and do you have tinnitus?
Yes. Retired airline pilot. It never was an issue on medicals. Keep some ear plugs handy and use them to protect your ears.
Hi 5LY, yeah nowadays I have earplugs even under my sennheiser anr headsets (Atr is loud) when did your tinnitus started? At the end of your career or did you had to fly many years with it? Asking because I’m wondering if you ever experienced any affect on it due pressure changes that we get all the time?
Dan_Brown
23rd Jan 2018, 18:44
Only you know you have tinnitus. It manifests itself on an audiogram as high tone deafness.
My advice, on a medial examination leave the tinnitus out of it.
reynoldsno1
23rd Jan 2018, 19:53
Had it for years - a while ago it moved from my left ear to my right ear. Back in the left now. I am suddenly more aware of it now that I'm typing this. You learn to live with it, and it has not really impacted on the quality of life.
blind pew
23rd Jan 2018, 20:03
Started on the death ship in the 80s after a quack syringed my ears when I had an infection. Larium made things worse especially with other parts of my body/brain.
Loud noise..night clubs..motorcycles ..etc and aspirin make it worse.
One ear only..right ..was a FO for most of my career.
Avoiding noise and wind noise helps.
NLP and trance music as well..had problems sleeping for years.
Audiogram normal for my age but have had problems understanding speech for years.
Use positive thought techniques so only a nuisance..lucky to still be here.
Good luck
blind pew
Yeah I’m super cautious nowadays about the noise and like told before use earplugs even under anr headset. Did you notice any affect on pressure change in airplane? Just wondering if that can make it worse.
blind pew
23rd Jan 2018, 21:19
No change with pressure changes..I paraglide now and occasionally glide in france including the odd aeros and spins..normal deafness associated with not clearing the ears which disappears once I hold my nose and blow or swallow...Have some drastic pressure changes when I do spiral dives to loose height paragliding ..probably three thousand fpm for short periods (limited because of G). No problem except that the wind noise in my helmet at high speed does temporarily make it worse. Similar but longer lasting effect using a circular saw, router or planer...normally use ear defenders.
Hearing damage started when I was in the army cadet force using rifles..at the same time scrambled on two strokes..got worse doing outside checks on the Trident..BEA were negligent as we had zero protection whereas SR issued ear protection to all crew members.
Loose rivets
23rd Jan 2018, 23:08
Huh, just lost 20 mins of writing because Prune's version of IB does not auto save a Draft.
Gist was, cilia get damaged, frequency-specific brain cells turn themselves flat out trying to interpret the 'noise' generated by the associated cells.
This suggests you might be just as lightly to survive further loud noise as a normal person but I'm not convinced about that. Perhaps one is predisposed to have the cilia fail, or maybe there's partial damage to the cilia. Personally I wouldn't gamble on being as robust as a person without tinnitus.
Several hypotheses suggest other reasons for the noise. Significantly, the notion that the brain generates the tinnitus and even cutting the main nerve, causing total deafness, can still leave the patient with the noise. Nasty.
I was distressed for a while but it soon became the norm. I had to stop diving as it always caused a few days of increased tinnitus but flying had no effect.
As one that's had a sudden increase in noise due to cochlea hydrops, I'm all too aware of the distress it causes. I'd just had two carpel tunnel ops to play the piano again and now my ears perceive sound at different frequencies. But looking on the bright side, it'll save me the cost of a piano.
BigEndBob
24th Jan 2018, 08:10
Flying light aircraft nearly full time for 40 years has given a constant humming like someone has left a electrical device on. Sometimes i get what sounds like a diesel engine idling, to the point one night i got up and opened the bedroom window to see where the noise was coming from. Other than wearing a bone dome all that time , can't see how hearing can be protected. I think the sound waves go through the skull, so plugs don't make much difference.
gemma10
25th Jan 2018, 16:43
Any thoughts on Statins being the cause? I started taking Statins 14 or so years ago and was about this time had Tinitus. Has never really caused a problem, but now I also have pulsatile tinitus, which is experienced when lying down in bed and hearing ones own heartbeat.
CharlieJuliet
25th Jan 2018, 20:15
Had it since late '60s. Doesn't seem to have got worse and had class 1 till age 65. No effect with pressure changes - and as has been said you will learn to live with it.
TurningFinalRWY36
26th Jan 2018, 04:24
Had it for over 2 years now, sometimes ill wear ear plugs or filters on the flight deck. looking at maybe getting Bose QC30 noise cancelling headphones just to wear in the cockpit. With the cockpit speaker on I have heard that there is no problem in hearing ATC etc. Flying the airbus and overall I think it is a quiet cockpit compared to other aircraft so Im lucky in that regard. Know a few other people at my company who have it and they seem to manage. over the time I have had it it ha progressed from my right ear to now both ears however I haven't noticed any increase in sound. it doesn't really bother me anymore and I sleep fine at night. Things do really get better, just be safe
The problem is that the cause of tinnitus can be manifold. Can be ear damage but also stress, medicins, blood pressure etc. The (most difficult) issue is first to find out what the exact cause is and then try to find a solution. I suffered a few years ago also from tinnitus during a couple of months.(probably stress factor). It was really affecting my sleep and was almost bouncing with my head against the wall, i was mentally getting insane of it. In the end i was simply afraid to go to sleep. Then i decided to put music on from Billy Holiday. Well, somehow i could back sleep again. After a while my tinnitus dissappeared. I always wear now earplugs under my headset. It is just a awful thing to have for the rest of your life.
Still looking more experience about the subject.
How are professional pilots coping with Tinnitus?
Has your Tinnitus got worse after flying even protecting your ears from noise?
Any bad experience about ANC headphones? Can they actually increase Tinnitus?
Any experience that pressure changes could make tinnitus worse?
I'm looking information for these questions as I feel that my work in regional turboprop is slowly making my tinntus louder even I protect my ears with plugs and anc headphones.
Appreciate your replies!
Had it for years - a while ago it moved from my left ear to my right ear. Back in the left now. I am suddenly more aware of it now that I'm typing this. You learn to live with it, and it has not really impacted on the quality of life.
Hi, have you noticed any increase in volume due flying? I got this 10 months ago and it was stable the whole summer until I started flying again 5+ months ago.. now it seems its slowly getting louder. Dont know if its due flying but I have protected my hearing with earplugs under headset and cockpit is about 70db during cruise.
Had it for over 2 years now, sometimes ill wear ear plugs or filters on the flight deck. looking at maybe getting Bose QC30 noise cancelling headphones just to wear in the cockpit. With the cockpit speaker on I have heard that there is no problem in hearing ATC etc. Flying the airbus and overall I think it is a quiet cockpit compared to other aircraft so Im lucky in that regard. Know a few other people at my company who have it and they seem to manage. over the time I have had it it ha progressed from my right ear to now both ears however I haven't noticed any increase in sound. it doesn't really bother me anymore and I sleep fine at night. Things do really get better, just be safe
Thanks for the info, how loud is your T? Mine was initially just mild that I could hear in quiet room but now I hear it even when driving a car and only reason I can think of that is making it worse is flying even I use earplugs under noise cancelling headphones. So now I'm worried that where is the limit how loud it can get. Do I have to leave the profession that I love or can the reason be something else that makes it louder.
Had it since late '60s. Doesn't seem to have got worse and had class 1 till age 65. No effect with pressure changes - and as has been said you will learn to live with it.
Hi, thanks for the reply, how did you get your tinnitus? And is it loud or just mild so you only hear it in silence? Mine is now getting louder and I cant figure why. I protect my hearing in cockpit and outside so only thing I can imagine is pressure change but how that could be the reason? Just had audiogram and my hearing is perfect, apparently better than should be normally, anyway they only test the normal range and not the high range where my T sound is.
CharlieJuliet
15th Mar 2018, 20:58
Hi P.H. I got my tinnitus doing walk rounds with other aircraft running just next to me - ear defenders were not around at the time. Also the cockpit environment of the aircraft that I was flying was very noisy. I can hear it all the time, but sometimes forget about it. It doesn't seem to be getting much worse - I use a noise cancelling headset now.
BoeingBoy
18th Mar 2018, 09:23
I have had a high pitched scream over both ears for many years. GA through Turbo props to many years of flying jets with one ear uncovered for conversation across the flight deck.
My audigram shows no significant loss for my age (64) and I never subscribed to the Bose/ear plug route as frankly I like to hear things drop off my aircraft rather than read about them on EICAS.
My wife is suffering badly but having had scans and tests there is nothing obviously wrong. She started hers after a particularly bad sinus infection. These have been common through hay fever every year but this one's left permanent damage.
If your audiogram is OK then your career shouldn't be affected. Good Luck.
I have had a high pitched scream over both ears for many years. GA through Turbo props to many years of flying jets with one ear uncovered for conversation across the flight deck.
My audigram shows no significant loss for my age (64) and I never subscribed to the Bose/ear plug route as frankly I like to hear things drop off my aircraft rather than read about them on EICAS.
My wife is suffering badly but having had scans and tests there is nothing obviously wrong. She started hers after a particularly bad sinus infection. These have been common through hay fever every year but this one's left permanent damage.
If your audiogram is OK then your career shouldn't be affected. Good Luck.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply, aviation industry is a noisy environment and it seems that quite a few of us suffer from tinnitus :/ I currently fly turboprop also and try to protect my ears as much as I can. Still I keep wondering is it the flying that still keeps making it worse or is it just slowly progressing like that no matter if I fly or not. Didnt have any issues with my ears before and flying didnt cause any issues even when I had flu, so I have difficulties to find cause for whats making it worse. My audiogram was very good and I have had four of those during the past 11 month that I have had this so I guess my hearing is not worsening which is good.
Has tinnitus affected your life or flying in any way or have you just got used to it so it doesnt bother you anymore at all? is your tinnitus very loud or just mild?
regards
PH
Dreamflight80
17th Apr 2018, 09:26
PH,
My ENT specialist told me that T does not compromise a pilots' career as long as your hearing is within the predefined limits and you can cope T.
He recommends an ANC headset like Bose.
About your concerns of noise across the flight deck. Generally, the human ear can withstand 80db for 8 hours.
Db has a logarithmic scale: 80db for 8 hours, 83db for 4 hours, 86 for 2 hours; 89 for 1 hour, etc
So the louder it gets, the more important you protect your ears with earplugs or ANC headset.
If the average cockpit noise is around 70db cruise level, you should be fine.
Keep in mind that you don't 'over protect' your ears. By over protecting, the ears might become more sensitive to noise.
You need to find a good balance.
Also try to not focus too much on it (I know, not easy...)
I hope your T is not getting worse!
If you have more questions, just let me know!
BoeingBoy
21st Apr 2018, 07:46
About your concerns of noise across the flight deck. Generally, the human ear can withstand 80db for 8 hours.
Db has a logarithmic scale: 80db for 8 hours, 83db for 4 hours, 86 for 2 hours; 89 for 1 hour, etc
That's interesting as I used to measure the ambient sound level in both the 757 and 767 flight decks using my phone's sound measuring app and if I remember correctly (and I stand to be corrected as I've been retired a couple of years now) the 757 was 90db and the 767 was around 60db. The former was the reason that a lot of pilots used to turn one or both packs off to do the pre-flight briefing.
reynoldsno1
21st Apr 2018, 23:09
Hi, have you noticed any increase in volume due flying? I got this 10 months ago and it was stable the whole summer until I started flying again 5+ months ago.. now it seems its slowly getting louder. Dont know if its due flying but I have protected my hearing with earplugs under headset and cockpit is about 70db during cruise.
It started after I finished flying - as far as I can recall! Like others have noted, my audiometry is OK - for someone my age, of course... (mid sixties)
mcdhu
22nd Apr 2018, 16:59
Interesting. My T started after I stopped flying at 65 - as did my hypertension.
I wonder if ( 5 years on) it is the drugs (amlodipine and candesartan) that could be causing it. The trouble is that you scare yourself rigid if you read about the possible side effects of these drugs. Importantly though, they do the job re BP!
Cheers all,
mcdhu
BoeingBoy
22nd Apr 2018, 18:19
I've been on Amlodipine 10mg a day since 2003 without side effects but it's interesting to note that it might be related to my Tinnitus.
mcdhu
23rd Apr 2018, 14:19
BB I'm thinking of running a trial by giving up each drug in turn for a fortnight (while monitoring my BP daily) to see if there is any improvement in the T.
I would run it past my GP, but it's almost too difficult to get an appointment if there is nothing acute wrong - and trying to see a cardiologist without paying is out of the question - especially if you can't get to see the GP.
Cheers
mcdhu
Dreamflight80
24th Apr 2018, 09:17
Do airline companies have a policy concerning allowed types of headsets or is any pilot allowed to use the headset he/she prefers?
I'm asking this because a pilot with T will likely prefer an ANR headset instead of a default one that is provided by the airline company.
Sabr2th
30th May 2018, 00:38
I'm new to this forum, and I saw this thread so I thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth.
I developed pretty loud tinnitus about 3 months ago.. Really had me freaked-out. Went to see my aviation doc, and was told to get a good headset.
So, I shopped around and figured I'd splurge and got the best the market could offer. The Bose A20...
Since I purchased it, I have done two short single day trips, and I have noticed my tinnitus was worse at the end of my duty period. Felt like I had been to a rock concert. I am convinced that the active noise cancelling is the issue.
I think the Bose A20 is a Pandora's Box for our hearing and hearing health. They market it as a safe and secure way to protect your hearing because it blocks out unwanted noise, thus allowing you to lower the volume of the radio. I still need to research this, but I think the ANR technology is simply bombarding our ears with a 2nd inverted-phase wave. We don't hear any sound because of the inverted-phase wave, but our ears are now exposed to twice the amount of pressure energy.
Sat on the jumpseat a few times, wore earplugs with a regular headset and didn't notice any issues after those flights.
I'm selling my Bose A20, avoiding any sort of ANR technology and gonna go get a good 'ol pair of Passive Noise Reduction David-Clarks!
jamesflood1
15th Jul 2018, 14:11
I want to get rid of my tinnitus problem. I had been suffering the tinnitus problem for 4 years. It has been happened due to not hearing protection.
dogsridewith
17th Mar 2019, 15:23
Tonight, the headline story on CBS' "60 Minutes" (7:00 pm USA Eastern Daylight Savings Time, often delayed by golf, etc.) is the potential injury of US Embassy personnel by yet unexplained means, where China is mentioned in story announcement. It will be interesting to see the degree to which Tinnitus appears as an ascribed symptom.