Protecting your hearing with magnesium

Over the past few months I've become interested in the theory that most people in the West are deficient in magnesium, and the various health problems this leads to. One of the more interesting aspects of this is the relationship between magnesium and hearing, specifically the effect that magnesium has in preventing noise induced hearing damage. 

Apparently a study was done in the military which looked at the effect of magnesium supplementation on noise damage suffered during military training involving firearms and explosions. It found that magnesium reduced the damage. This is interesting to me as a musician, because how many of us haven't worried at one time or another that we might permanently damage our hearing by exposing our ears to some kind of extreme noise event, or prolonged exposure to loud noise in general. 

I have moderate hearing loss above 15K, although I don't think it's too bad for my age (40). It does kind of freak me out however, especially since I had pin sharp hearing as a kid. I can distinctly remember as a small child hearing the different harmonics in people's voices very clearly, to the point where people almost sounded freakishly metallic if I concentrated on it. I can't do that now. 

I screwed with my ears in my late teens and early 20's - mainly due to the fact that the emerging rave scene was in full swing and I spent many weekends at the most ear splitting warehouse parties, dancing away to hard acid techno music at the most ridiculous volumes for sometimes 12 hours straight. On top of that there were loud gigs I attended, some time in bands, and daily headphone use at less than sensible volumes. I wonder if my hearing damage would have been less, had I not been magnesium deficient (my diet was pretty awful at the time). I also have tinnitus, which drives me mad sometimes but I've learned to live with it. Some say that tinnitus can partly be caused by the kind of brain damage that comes along with excessive use of drugs and alcohol, well I did plenty of that in my youth as well, although I cut it out altogether 10 years ago. 

I would truly hate it if my hearing or my tinnitus got worse due to one careless blast of sound through a pair of cans. I can't help thinking about Andy Partridge of XTC, who received severe permanent tinnitus in one ear due to a dumb studio engineer triggering a snare sample at full blast through his cans when he had them turned up full to listen for noise on a track. Or Pete Townsend, who had his ears screwed by a particularly insane Keith Moon drum explosion live on TV, or William Shatner, who lost some hearing and got tinnitus by standing too close to a stage explosion during the filming of Star Trek. I wonder if this sort of thing can be prevented or at least minimized by magnesium supplementation. Or if my hearing in general would improve. It's worth Googling the subject for links because there is much to be read on the subject. 

Anyway I'm taking a daily dose of magnesium, if not for the myriad of other health benefits it has, including muscle and joint pain and general relaxation. I found that the citrate form is way superior to the Mg oxide caps, and I've been taking a drink called Natural Calm twice per day. I have to say I do feel a lot more relaxed, I don't get as much neck pain and stiffness as I used to, and I sleep a hell of a lot better. Whether it's protecting my hearing or not, I cannot say, but I feel like I'm at least doing something in addition to the usual precautions. 

I did some tests a while back to see if I could here any differences between different sample rates. I discovered during that testing process that my hearing ranges from 35hz to 16.5kHz.

I've always had trouble with my ears retaining fluid. A few years back I had tubes put in and oh my God. I drove straight home and got out my Beatles albums. It was amazing. I have to go back and get the one removed because it shifted, and get one put in my left ear and I don't want to do it. Last time I had this done they said they can't do it in the doctors office anymore so I had to have out patient surgery and I stopped breathing on the operating table. What was supposed to be a 20 minute procedure ended up taking 3 hours after they got me breathing again and stabilized.

I think I'll try the Magnesium first. LOL!

Bub


I did some tests a while back to see if I could here any differences between different sample rates. I discovered during that testing process that my hearing ranges from 35hz to 16.5kHz.

I've always had trouble with my ears retaining fluid. A few years back I had tubes put in and oh my God. I drove straight home and got out my Beatles albums. It was amazing. I have to go back and get the one removed because it shifted, and get one put in my left ear and I don't want to do it. Last time I had this done they said they can't do it in the doctors office anymore so I had to have out patient surgery and I stopped breathing on the operating table. What was supposed to be a 20 minute procedure ended up taking 3 hours after they got me breathing again and stabilized.

I think I'll try the Magnesium first. LOL!

I wonder if I have something like that too. My left ear sometimes feels like it's blocked, especially so when I've been exercising. 


I had a plug of ear wax fall out on me in the pool years ago, that was a hoot. I felt something on my ear and took it off with my hand...it was a largeish brown lump which to be honest looked like poop. I then proceeded to wade past everyone in the shallow end, looking intently at this piece of poop in my hand. Can't have looked good 

I can't say any of the magnesium is true or not, but I've been on it for years. One in the morning, one at night. I've put my poor ears through war zones of loud, obnoxious music since I was 12. Thank God my hearing is in really good shape today due to being careful over the years...but there was a stretch there in the beginning where I'm sure I did some damage. If there is any truth to that magnesium, it's done a wonderful job for me I would say. I had no clue it would help with hearing....that's good to know!

-Danny

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani

Between the guns I used to shoot as a kid with no hearing protection, and the time in the military, and then the various bands, all of which were much too loud, I have tinnitus and a pronounced notch in my hearing at 4k. 

I've talked to doctors and had hearing tests and the charts say it all.  I have tried the Quituss stuff and some other supposed cures but nothing works for me.  Unless there is some sort of medical cure..... which I doubt as they have more important things to cure first, I shall endure this insidious high pitched noise for my remaining days.  

spacey

I screwed with my ears in my late teens and early 20's

sharke


 

You think the '90s were fun...to bad you missed the '70's

I will take your hippie rock festival and raise you a 24 hour woodland rave with kidney-dissolving levels of sub-bass. 

my hearing was fine until the recent advent of Nagbap into my life

A variety of chemicals may be implicated in worsening or ameliorating noise induced hearing loss.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3199798/

There is one compound that unequivocally can prevent noise induced hearing damage if properly applied. 


foam rubber:

bapu


Are those the new Imodium pills slart?

Did you mean Commodium?

bitflipper
I think I'll have a Milk of Magnesia cocktail now.

With becan?


MMMMmmmmmmm.........

sharke

57Gregy


Fifteen K?! Amateur.
I can't hear anything above about 8 K.
Unless it's real loud.
And there are no other noises happening.

But I'm going to look into this. If there's something to it and it may prevent more hearing loss, I'm all for it.
Thanks!
Any links?

I would just Google "magnesium hearing" and sift through what comes up. You could also try "magnesium noise damage" if you want to look into that aspect of it. I think zinc is also something which is important for hearing, and something which most of us are deficient in (especially if you work out and/or sweat a lot). 

I did that. There were a lot of links. I'll delve into it further on my days off.

bitflipper


 the Amazon and Borneo found people in their 80's with no hearing loss at all.   

 

We think about these people living, "really difficult lives, with no modern day possessions."   But they spend their entire lives in paradise, with few, "if any," modern day problems...  


We have, "all this modern technology, and huge expensive health care system"  by the time we are 80, we are deaf, with cancer, and renal disease.. we would have been dead by 70, but scored an extra ten years out of the, "best medical care."  lol..  but in Borneo, you kinda reach 97, and don't wake up for rain forest coffee one morning...  this after a whole life of being thin, defined and strong, and smoking whatever flowers seem to grow around you..


Edit = "oh, and in Borneo, when you are 80..  You actually look about 50 here in some parts of, "the modern world."  and that's assuming the 50 yr old you are being compared too is in, "great shape."

Edit = There are surfing communities in Nicaragua..  I saw em on the HGTV channel..  wow, I'd love to find a way to get to a surfing community down there...  you need like, "an income that is not tied to America," but for $250,000 you get an amazing ocean house.. ( townhouse maybe,) in a safe and guarded community..  its like, "$100," a month upkeep fee, and $2500 a month, you live a great lifestyle down there...

sharke

spacey

I screwed with my ears in my late teens and early 20's

sharke

You think the '90s were fun...to bad you missed the '70's

I will take your hippie rock festival and raise you a 24 hour woodland rave with kidney-dissolving levels of sub-bass. 

Hours? LOL....I'll see you and raise something you obviously missed ...one Acoustic People Killer
and it didn't take a minute.

Bub

As for Mike's link about Magnesium Sulfate, it's actually bad for you in large quantities and long term use. I have Eczema really bad on my legs and the only thing that would help was soaking in Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate). I told my doctor one time about this miracle remedy I found and how nothing else helped and he told me to stop it immediately. Regular use of Epsom Salt causes kidney failure and dehydrates you, which is funny that they put it in bottled water. You can also use it as a laxative, just mix up a glass and drink it down. Says so right on the box ...

I think, don't hold me to this, that the Magnesium you take in pill form is slightly different and may not be as bad ... but I'd definitely check with a doctor before taking the stuff long term. Preferably one with a real Indian (Not American Indian) accent. They know all about that kind of thing more than American doctors. If you can find a pharmacist that is a real Indian (Shouldn't be too hard to come by in NYC, there were 4 of them in Iowa LOL!), they'll give you all the free advice you could ever want.

I actually suggested magnesium citrate, not sulfate. It is perfectly safe to use as long as you take sensible doses. You can't overdose on magnesium, the excess is just flushed out in urine and feces. It will give you diarrhea if you take too much, however. In that sense, it could cause dehydration via the diarrhea. 


However, like anything else, it's probably not a good idea to take excessive amounts if you have a pre-existing kidney condition. Really though, the amount that you would take in a magnesium citrate drink like Natural Calm is not nearly enough to be toxic, and it doesn't "build up" in your body over time. As far as I know, the bones store magnesium, and once you have replenished that store, your body will just expel any excess. Two teaspoons of Natural Calm is 87% of the RDA of magnesium. I make two of these drinks per day, so I'm getting 174%. Nowhere near the level at which you'd be justified in worrying about it.