Tinnitus (ringing in the ear)

[Siete Leguas]

Hello drum lovers!

It's been a while since I last logged in. I hope everybody's doing well.

I want to share an unpleasant experience that I'm afraid has to do with drumming. I've had a tinnitus in my left ear for 2-3 years now (I'm 39 and have been drumming for about 10 years). I started noticing it occasionally but it has gotten worse in the past year or so. It is now quite persistent (I hear it most of the time) and can get pretty intense sometimes, especially in stressful situations.

I suspect it has to do with the bongo macho (which I like to tune quite high and sometimes play pretty loud), and the campana de bongo. I am right-handed and, for whatever reason, I naturally play bongo with my head slightly tilted to the right, same thing with the campana, which I hold with my left hand. As a result, my left ear is more exposed to the sound pressure with those instruments.

I don't think it is related to the other instruments that I've been playing (mostly cajón, congas and "minor percussion"), because 1) I believe I don't play them as loud, and 2) I don't perceive the timbre of those other instruments as so potentially damaging to the ears (except maybe claves). No facts here, though, just intuition.

I went to the doctor and found out that I have a significant hearing loss in my left ear (right one is ok). The doctor was skeptical about drumming being the cause, but he also didn't have a clue what a bongo or a cowbell look like, or how they sound, so I don't know what to make of his opinion.

In any case, the hearing loss is probably irreversible and I will have to live with the tinnitus for the rest of my life. However, I would like to keep on playing bongo and campana, as they are among my favourite instruments, but I also definitely want to prevent it from getting worse.

I was wondering if some of you guys have had similar experiences and/or advice on how to protect your ears and still be able to enjoy playing. I won't have the chance to play much in the next few months, but, if I do, I will use some kind of earplugs or similar (which, so far, I am not a fan of).

Happy turn of the year!

SL