EARS GONE WRONG

An unlikely set of circumstances paves the way to a new beginning of Dr. Henry's eventual lifelong passion for the study of tinnitus... In his teens and twenties Dr. Henry played guitar in rock bands. He remembers often lying in bed after a performance and noticing the "roar" in his ears. He didn't think much of it, but performing became more and more uncomfortable-the loudness of the music was beginning to hurt. He started stuffing wet toilet paper in his ears to block the sound (he knew nothing about earplugs). The roaring in his ears didn't quit-he had tinnitus... After playing music he worked as a carpenter. So he went from one loud occupation to another. Every day he was exposed to hammering, power tools, and all forms of loud machines. He had no idea what he was doing to his ears. Eventually he started wearing earplugs, but it was too little, too late. His tinnitus was persistent.