Playing the drums

[Foxbat2]

Hi there, I’ve been dealing with T for the past 6 months and seeing an E.N.T. tomorrow. I’m 65 and have been drumming to tunes as long as I could remember, but never on drums. So I’d like to take lessons and buy a kit either acoustic or electric. My question is directed to percussion musicians. Will this affect my T and or hearing? Cheers

[Happyrosie]

just a heads up, Foxbat. There have been posts here over the years from musicians. If you use some appropriate search terms here you might find something of use to you. Past posters might not see your post as they no longer need to/want to be on this forum.

So have a look at Tinnitus UK website for some information there by putting “musicians” into their search box.

[Sonnybee]

Hi there foxbat2. I'm not a drummer. I play guitar and sing in a heavy metal band. Have done 20+ years. The short answer to your question is, yes, sustained drumming will damage your hearing, not necessarily your tinnitus. All my fellow band mates have some hearing loss, but I'm the only one with tinnitus!! But it all depends on how long we are exposed to the noise. We practised once a week and gigged once a month, over a period of 20 odd years. Our drummer uses an electronic kit for home practice, with headphones. Its an amazing piece of kit, and unlike real drums, there's volume control, and it doesn't annoy the neighbours!! We have even used it for recording purposes. Nowadays I use ear plugs for gigs, and have cut down the amount of gigs I do. One word of advice. Don't give up your hobby. If we rearrange our whole lives around our tinnitus, we elevate the tinnitus, making it the most important thing in our life. It then takes over everything we do, making it impossible to get over it. Thats the fundamental rule of CBT. Take precautions, and keep banging the sticks! Take care.

[Cookie24 in reply to Sonnybee]

Which earplugs do you use?

[Sonnybee in reply to Cookie24]

Couple of types. Alpine, and docs pro plugs. I prefer the docs as they sit inside the whole ear and are transparent, so you can hardly see them. Although anything is better than nothing. All on amazon.

[D-w-L2023 in reply to Sonnybee]

An interesting interview about musicians and tinnitus where they talk about ear plugs and how they are essential. youtu.be/7YcRPvPLX2U?si=4r8...(Not working as expected?)

[Sonnybee in reply to D-w-L2023]

Cheers for that. 😉