Happy & Healthy

Permanent Disc Copy

Hooray. I'm back and how you have missed me! Tell me that you have missed me. Anyways, let's get started right away. And with a seriously heavy topic too. Namely the beep in my ear. What am I saying: the permanent beep in my ear.
In the past, I always came home from going out with a temporary loud beep or hiss in my ears. I thought it was normal, part of the deal. In fact, I secretly found the noise quite cozy, at least I could still vibe a bit and stuff. On top of that, the noise always disappeared the next morning like snow before the sun. Bam. Gone. Departed! Packed its bags! Left with the northern sun! Skipped out! Checked out! Lifted the heels!
Okay, I'll stop, I was just getting into it.
Until I decided to go to a friend's metal concert about a year ago. Where I stood right next to the speakers, because otherwise I would end up in the mosh pit and that was very scary and super intense and there were all these waving hairs. But now I say: maybe I should have better joined the pit among the hairs, because what did my ear hear the next morning? Right, the going-out beep. At first, I thought: huh, I must have slept too little, my brain didn't have enough time for recovery, maybe it will fade away during the day? But no. NO. The beep didn't go away. Not that evening, not the next morning, not the week after, never.

In short: I've been walking around since then with a kind of beep/hiss in my ear. Officially it's called tinnitus, two million (!) people in the Netherlands suffer from it and actually, apart from making sure I get enough rest, there's not much to be done in my case. Fortunately, the sound is basically bearable. During the day I hardly hear it, then the sounds of everyday life take precedence. But as soon as I lie down in bed or sit in a quiet room, I hear it all too well. And believe me when I say it's a scary, annoying, exhausting, and unpredictable sound. Most of the time it's a beep, but sometimes I hear the dentist's drill and at other times it’s like I hear the sea from a shell. I'm not joking. Oh, and sometimes the beep suddenly swells up and I sit there anxiously waiting for the sound to decrease again.
And that's why I say: learn from me. Prevent this misery. Please never stand right next to a speaker. You should always keep at least two meters away. And for goodness' sake, get some good earplugs. At the hearing shop, they can make invisible earplugs that let through all tones perfectly, but then a bit softened. This way you can still enjoy the concert or festival, but not at such a ridiculously loud volume.

Well, that's it for today. Make sure to remember this piece well, okay? And if you want to know more about tinnitus, you should check out Stichtinghoormij.nl.