Helicopter pilots and Tinnitus
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Hearing
Yup ... here's another COF with tinnatus after 14,000 hrs. ... (not all bad 'cos I can hear my heart beats!)
Not a problem daytime, since the hum gets lost in the general sounds. Nightime, the hum is positively linked to the heart rate. ie a pulsing effect. Other than that ... no adverse affects so a nil problem.
Dennis K.
Not a problem daytime, since the hum gets lost in the general sounds. Nightime, the hum is positively linked to the heart rate. ie a pulsing effect. Other than that ... no adverse affects so a nil problem.
Dennis K.
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Well the good news is that you will be the 1st to know that you are dead. (Ref the heartbeats)OK OK a poor attempt at humor. I have had it since 05 when I left Iraq. It does get lost in the background noise during the day but in a quite environment it gets quite loud.
Last edited by before landing check list; 11th Jan 2011 at 15:34.
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I suffer. Not enough to deny me my medical but it's always there. A high-pitched noise similar to when the tV stations used to go off the air. (Old gits will know that sound!).
At Bond in the mid-eighties the headsets were kept in the 332s. Doing rotor-running crew changes we would have to approach/leave the aircraft bare-headed! A lot of damage done then.
At Bond in the mid-eighties the headsets were kept in the 332s. Doing rotor-running crew changes we would have to approach/leave the aircraft bare-headed! A lot of damage done then.
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If there is one funny story to come out of these Queensland floods it's this, and it's one that we can relate to.
And we must excuse the half deaf reporter for his bad reporting this time.
Story was that a reporter somehow got talking to a farmer, and next thing we are starting to hear is about this farmer that had lost 30,000 pigs.
Bloody hell, struth, stone the crows, you might say.
Well someone else in the media outlet, thought, hang about there ain't any pig farms there-abouts that size. So he interviews him again on the telephone. Back came the response;
"Yeeeah mate , yeeeah, like, pause, oi reckon I dunn about thirty sows and pigs , pause, Eh."
And we must excuse the half deaf reporter for his bad reporting this time.
Story was that a reporter somehow got talking to a farmer, and next thing we are starting to hear is about this farmer that had lost 30,000 pigs.
Bloody hell, struth, stone the crows, you might say.
Well someone else in the media outlet, thought, hang about there ain't any pig farms there-abouts that size. So he interviews him again on the telephone. Back came the response;
"Yeeeah mate , yeeeah, like, pause, oi reckon I dunn about thirty sows and pigs , pause, Eh."
I´ve only just noticed this thread so perhaps my comments are preaching to the converted but some of the early posters missed the point about ANR entirely.
It does work better at some frequencies than others. The point about the ANR systems I had experience of testing is that it adds attenuation where the passive attenuation of a hard ear cup is worse. It does not matter so much that it does not work at high frequencies because a good ear cup will passively do a lot to reduce these anyway.
IIRC the Sea King had a tonal spike at about 630 Hz and this is where the ANR I used was very effective. I had lots of Sea King and Chinook pilots who were very enthusiastic about ANR. Whether these systems became operational I don´t know.
Anyway, protect your hearing as noise induced hearing loss only adds to whatever hearing loss you may get through ageing!
It does work better at some frequencies than others. The point about the ANR systems I had experience of testing is that it adds attenuation where the passive attenuation of a hard ear cup is worse. It does not matter so much that it does not work at high frequencies because a good ear cup will passively do a lot to reduce these anyway.
IIRC the Sea King had a tonal spike at about 630 Hz and this is where the ANR I used was very effective. I had lots of Sea King and Chinook pilots who were very enthusiastic about ANR. Whether these systems became operational I don´t know.
Anyway, protect your hearing as noise induced hearing loss only adds to whatever hearing loss you may get through ageing!
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as a thought, would it be possible to tune the headsets to dampen different frequencies or groups of frequencies as might be expected to be different from one type to another?
it is very easy to re-tune the different frequencies on a digital hearing aid for example, just by plugging it into a simple computer with the right program on it. If such device is not yet available how soon?
Even Sikorsky could offer the appropriate headset dampening for the S92 for instance, that you guys mention as a problem.
tet
it is very easy to re-tune the different frequencies on a digital hearing aid for example, just by plugging it into a simple computer with the right program on it. If such device is not yet available how soon?
Even Sikorsky could offer the appropriate headset dampening for the S92 for instance, that you guys mention as a problem.
tet
From when I started I have ALWAYS (I mean it, ALWAYS) used earplugs of some kind. Lots of snickers and giggles around for being a p#ssy, being told to man up etc.
Always the excuse that the earplug foamies were uncomfortable, can't get them in properly etc. I wonder what they will all say when they start getting hearing aids.
I now wear CEP.
Cheers
H.
Always the excuse that the earplug foamies were uncomfortable, can't get them in properly etc. I wonder what they will all say when they start getting hearing aids.
I now wear CEP.
Cheers
H.
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Tinnitus "CURE"?
'Rebooting' brain could ease ringing in ears
Yahooooooooo ^| 01-12-11 | Staff
Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 3:18:22 PM by Red Badger
Scientists have found a way to ease chronic ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, by stimulating a neck nerve and playing sounds to reboot the brain, according to research published Wednesday.
There is currently no cure for tinnitus, which can range from annoying to debilitating and affects as many as 23 million adults in the United States, including one in 10 seniors and 40 percent of military veterans.
For Gloria Chepko, 66, who has suffered from tinnitus since she was four years old, the sound she describes as "like crickets... but also bell-like," gets worse when she is tired.
"It's awful," she said. "Sometimes it is very loud, and it will get loud if I am under stress or if I have been going for a very long time and I am fatigued," she said.
"If my mind is tired and I sit down I will only hear this sound."
For some people, such as military veterans who are left with hearing damage after exposure to loud blasts and gunfire, the noise -- which could also sound like roaring, whooshing or clicking -- interferes with their ability to lead a normal life.
The US Veterans Administration spends one billion dollars per year on disability payments related to tinnitus, the most common service-related ailment in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, industry experts say.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by hearing loss or nerve damage, to which the brain tries but fails to adjust.
"Brain changes in response to nerve damage or cochlear trauma cause irregular neural activity believed to be responsible for many types of chronic pain and tinnitus," said Michael Kilgard of the University of Texas, co-author of the study in the journal Nature.
"We believe the part of the brain that processes sounds -- the auditory cortex -- delegates too many neurons to some frequencies, and things begin to go awry," he said.
To fix that, researchers used rats to test a theory that they could reset the brain by retraining it so that errant neurons return to their normal state.
In rats with tinnitus, they electrically stimulated the vagus nerve, which runs from the head through the neck to the abdomen, in combination with playing a certain high-pitched tone.
When stimulated, the nerve can encourage changes in the brain by releasing chemicals such as acetylcholine and norepinephrine that act as neurotransmitters.
Rats that underwent the pairing of noise and stimulation experienced a halt to the ringing sounds for up to three and a half months, while control rats that received just noise or just stimulation did not.
An examination of neural responses in the auditory cortexes showed normal levels in the rats who were treated with the combination of stimulation and sound, indicating the tinnitus had disappeared.
The treatment "not only reorganized the neurons to respond to their original frequencies, but it also made the brain responses sharper," the study said.
"The key is that, unlike previous treatments, we're not masking the tinnitus, we're not hiding the tinnitus," said Kilgard. "We are returning the brain from a state where it generates tinnitus to a state that does not generate tinnitus. We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus." Clinical trials are expected to begin on humans in the coming months, with the first trials starting in Europe, according to lead study author Navzer Engineer. The process of vagus nerve stimulation, known as VNS, is already being used in the treatment of around 50,000 people with epilepsy or depression, the study said. "This minimally invasive method of generating neural plasticity allows us to precisely manipulate brain circuits, which cannot be achieved with drugs," said Engineer. "Pairing sounds with VNS provides that precision by rewiring damaged circuits and reversing the abnormal activity that generates the phantom sound." Like many sufferers, Chepko has learned to cope with the noise. "I have to find some other way to relax to just endure it, take a bath or do stretches or just lie down and stare or read a book, depending on how bad it is," she said. "I have kind of lived around it, or over it."
Yahooooooooo ^| 01-12-11 | Staff
Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 3:18:22 PM by Red Badger
Scientists have found a way to ease chronic ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus, by stimulating a neck nerve and playing sounds to reboot the brain, according to research published Wednesday.
There is currently no cure for tinnitus, which can range from annoying to debilitating and affects as many as 23 million adults in the United States, including one in 10 seniors and 40 percent of military veterans.
For Gloria Chepko, 66, who has suffered from tinnitus since she was four years old, the sound she describes as "like crickets... but also bell-like," gets worse when she is tired.
"It's awful," she said. "Sometimes it is very loud, and it will get loud if I am under stress or if I have been going for a very long time and I am fatigued," she said.
"If my mind is tired and I sit down I will only hear this sound."
For some people, such as military veterans who are left with hearing damage after exposure to loud blasts and gunfire, the noise -- which could also sound like roaring, whooshing or clicking -- interferes with their ability to lead a normal life.
The US Veterans Administration spends one billion dollars per year on disability payments related to tinnitus, the most common service-related ailment in soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, industry experts say.
Scientists believe the disorder is caused by hearing loss or nerve damage, to which the brain tries but fails to adjust.
"Brain changes in response to nerve damage or cochlear trauma cause irregular neural activity believed to be responsible for many types of chronic pain and tinnitus," said Michael Kilgard of the University of Texas, co-author of the study in the journal Nature.
"We believe the part of the brain that processes sounds -- the auditory cortex -- delegates too many neurons to some frequencies, and things begin to go awry," he said.
To fix that, researchers used rats to test a theory that they could reset the brain by retraining it so that errant neurons return to their normal state.
In rats with tinnitus, they electrically stimulated the vagus nerve, which runs from the head through the neck to the abdomen, in combination with playing a certain high-pitched tone.
When stimulated, the nerve can encourage changes in the brain by releasing chemicals such as acetylcholine and norepinephrine that act as neurotransmitters.
Rats that underwent the pairing of noise and stimulation experienced a halt to the ringing sounds for up to three and a half months, while control rats that received just noise or just stimulation did not.
An examination of neural responses in the auditory cortexes showed normal levels in the rats who were treated with the combination of stimulation and sound, indicating the tinnitus had disappeared.
The treatment "not only reorganized the neurons to respond to their original frequencies, but it also made the brain responses sharper," the study said.
"The key is that, unlike previous treatments, we're not masking the tinnitus, we're not hiding the tinnitus," said Kilgard. "We are returning the brain from a state where it generates tinnitus to a state that does not generate tinnitus. We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus." Clinical trials are expected to begin on humans in the coming months, with the first trials starting in Europe, according to lead study author Navzer Engineer. The process of vagus nerve stimulation, known as VNS, is already being used in the treatment of around 50,000 people with epilepsy or depression, the study said. "This minimally invasive method of generating neural plasticity allows us to precisely manipulate brain circuits, which cannot be achieved with drugs," said Engineer. "Pairing sounds with VNS provides that precision by rewiring damaged circuits and reversing the abnormal activity that generates the phantom sound." Like many sufferers, Chepko has learned to cope with the noise. "I have to find some other way to relax to just endure it, take a bath or do stretches or just lie down and stare or read a book, depending on how bad it is," she said. "I have kind of lived around it, or over it."
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UT-Dallas Researchers' Potential Tinnitus Cure Rings Loudly In Scientific Community's Ears
By Robert Wilonsky
Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 at 8:32 AM
First I'd ever heard of tinnitus was when Who guitarist Pete Townshend announced the ringing in his ears had gotten so bad he might have to hang up his Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster for good. Then I became a music critic, stood too close to too many stages and speakers for too many years, and would eventually discover what it was like to always hear a high-pitched something even in absolute silence. But the University of Texas-Dallas sends word this morning that two of its researchers -- Dr. Michael Kilgard and Dr. Navzer Engineer, along with UTD-affiliated biotech firm MicroTransponder -- may have stumbled across if not a cure for tinnitus, then perhaps something approaching long-term relief.
The docs' research, funded with a $1.7-million grant from the National Institutes of Health and published this week in Nature and quickly making the rounds both here and abroad, suggests that tinnitus is reversible after all -- that the perpetual ringing in the ears can be turned down, if not switched off altogether. Long story short: The docs found that if they exposed rats to sound while at the same time electrically stimulating the vagus nerve (which is apparently also called the "cranial nerve X," which just triggered the rare Band Name and Album Title Alert), they could eliminate the ringing in the ears. (Though how one finds a rat with tinnitus ...)
Says Engineer in the UTD release, "This minimally invasive method of generating neural plasticity allows us to precisely manipulate brain circuits, which cannot be achieved with drugs. Pairing sounds with VNS provides that precision by rewiring damaged circuits and reversing the abnormal activity that generates the phantom sound." Clinical trials are scheduled to begin on humans in the next few months. Which reminds me: Kids, turn down the iPod. And get yourself a case of earplugs.
By Robert Wilonsky
Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 at 8:32 AM
First I'd ever heard of tinnitus was when Who guitarist Pete Townshend announced the ringing in his ears had gotten so bad he might have to hang up his Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster for good. Then I became a music critic, stood too close to too many stages and speakers for too many years, and would eventually discover what it was like to always hear a high-pitched something even in absolute silence. But the University of Texas-Dallas sends word this morning that two of its researchers -- Dr. Michael Kilgard and Dr. Navzer Engineer, along with UTD-affiliated biotech firm MicroTransponder -- may have stumbled across if not a cure for tinnitus, then perhaps something approaching long-term relief.
The docs' research, funded with a $1.7-million grant from the National Institutes of Health and published this week in Nature and quickly making the rounds both here and abroad, suggests that tinnitus is reversible after all -- that the perpetual ringing in the ears can be turned down, if not switched off altogether. Long story short: The docs found that if they exposed rats to sound while at the same time electrically stimulating the vagus nerve (which is apparently also called the "cranial nerve X," which just triggered the rare Band Name and Album Title Alert), they could eliminate the ringing in the ears. (Though how one finds a rat with tinnitus ...)
Says Engineer in the UTD release, "This minimally invasive method of generating neural plasticity allows us to precisely manipulate brain circuits, which cannot be achieved with drugs. Pairing sounds with VNS provides that precision by rewiring damaged circuits and reversing the abnormal activity that generates the phantom sound." Clinical trials are scheduled to begin on humans in the next few months. Which reminds me: Kids, turn down the iPod. And get yourself a case of earplugs.
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Just returned to flying after 12 weeks off waiting for the Medical Profession, and UK CAA Medical Division, to decide that I have mild tinnitus and recommend I use an ANR headset.
Was told that my hearing loss was very good for a pilot with 30+ years of flying helicopters, and that I could not apportion blame for my tinnitus to the type I currently fly.
However ENT Specialist did not have the statistics of the operation that I work at, with 6 of the helicopter type in question, and a significant proportion of the 38 based pilots suffering from Hearing Loss / Tinnitus / Earache / etc. and this despite the use of CEPs / Custom Moulded 9 or 15 dB ear plugs / ANR or ENC headsets.
The type in question is the S92A, and while it has already been posted elsewhere about problems with blade slap, RHS cockpit window acting as a sub woofer, noisy heater, vent and glass cockpit fans, no-one has previously posted the electrical noise present on the intercom, which Sikorsky are aware of but leave it to the operators to filter out. Unfortunately it is still present even with the use of ENC modules.
Is it just coincidence that this electrical noise is of a similar frequency to my tinnitus, as our helicopters have not been modified yet?
Was told that my hearing loss was very good for a pilot with 30+ years of flying helicopters, and that I could not apportion blame for my tinnitus to the type I currently fly.
However ENT Specialist did not have the statistics of the operation that I work at, with 6 of the helicopter type in question, and a significant proportion of the 38 based pilots suffering from Hearing Loss / Tinnitus / Earache / etc. and this despite the use of CEPs / Custom Moulded 9 or 15 dB ear plugs / ANR or ENC headsets.
The type in question is the S92A, and while it has already been posted elsewhere about problems with blade slap, RHS cockpit window acting as a sub woofer, noisy heater, vent and glass cockpit fans, no-one has previously posted the electrical noise present on the intercom, which Sikorsky are aware of but leave it to the operators to filter out. Unfortunately it is still present even with the use of ENC modules.
Is it just coincidence that this electrical noise is of a similar frequency to my tinnitus, as our helicopters have not been modified yet?
HeliFirst
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Tinnitus awareness week
Do you Need help?
British Tinninus Association - helpline 0800 018 0527
BTA
.
With over 11,000 hrs flying, in both Aeroplanes and Helicopters myself, I am hoping to be in a position soon to be able to help other Pilots with the condition.
Do you suffer from Tinnitus?
[email protected]
British Tinninus Association - helpline 0800 018 0527
BTA
.
With over 11,000 hrs flying, in both Aeroplanes and Helicopters myself, I am hoping to be in a position soon to be able to help other Pilots with the condition.
Do you suffer from Tinnitus?
[email protected]
Last edited by Up & Away; 11th Feb 2011 at 16:00.
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The type in question is the S92A, and while it has already been posted elsewhere about problems with blade slap, RHS cockpit window acting as a sub woofer, noisy heater, vent and glass cockpit fans, no-one has previously posted the electrical noise present on the intercom, which Sikorsky are aware of but leave it to the operators to filter out. Unfortunately it is still present even with the use of ENC modules.
After all:
Sikorsky has a safety management program integrated into its operation. This program utilizes several processes to identify hazards and manage risk from preliminary helicopter design, field operations, and the continuing airworthiness program. Once potential hazards are identified, the level of risk is assessed utilizing processes such as: functional hazard assessments; fault tree analysis; failure mode and effects analysis; and common cause analysis.
Sikorsky has many ways of detecting hazards such as operator reports or deficiency trend monitoring. One of Sikorsky's primary sources of hazard identification is its network of field service representatives. Throughout a helicopter's life cycle, Sikorsky assigns a Lead System Safety Engineer who is responsible for providing guidance for safe designs, identifying potential safety hazards, conducting risk assessments, tracking safety hazards, and verifying that risk has been eliminated or properly mitigated. When a mitigation plan is arrived at and a corrective action is put in place, Sikorsky closes the safety process loop by continuing to monitor the outcome of the corrective action. Mitigation decisions for higher-level potential safety hazards are reviewed by an internal Senior Safety Council at Sikorsky.
Sikorsky has many ways of detecting hazards such as operator reports or deficiency trend monitoring. One of Sikorsky's primary sources of hazard identification is its network of field service representatives. Throughout a helicopter's life cycle, Sikorsky assigns a Lead System Safety Engineer who is responsible for providing guidance for safe designs, identifying potential safety hazards, conducting risk assessments, tracking safety hazards, and verifying that risk has been eliminated or properly mitigated. When a mitigation plan is arrived at and a corrective action is put in place, Sikorsky closes the safety process loop by continuing to monitor the outcome of the corrective action. Mitigation decisions for higher-level potential safety hazards are reviewed by an internal Senior Safety Council at Sikorsky.
So I wonder what the Senior Safety Council has to say about this hazard.
To hear Bells ringing again.....from church steeples!