GT Academy Champion Wolfgang Reip Reveals Battle With Hearing Disorder

  • Thread starter Famine
  • 11 comments
  • 12,810 views
Wear ear protection and wear it properly guys! Not like me at shooting range. But i have been lucky and with treatment starting the very next day, tinnitus has been mostly gone in my case. (like 95% gone)
Dont even bang a hammer on steel or something without ear protection.
Dont underestimate the (negative) power of tinnitus.

I wonder what exact sound traumas hes encountered in racing. I suppose he was not wearing an ear protection and somebody not expectedly started and revved a car?

I had a similar accident at the Gran Turismo Academy at Prague where there were some professional motorbikes showing off and he revved his bike to revlimit. I didnt know much about ear protection at that time, but my right ear has been in pain for like a week.
 
I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live with a condition like that. Best wishes to him.
 
It seems like hearing-related diseases are generally poorly researched. For example, Meniere's disease (which is a vestibular apparatus disease, but also strongly affects inner ear due to them being very closely related): the cause is unknown, and the potential cure is only just going through testing phase. And even if it goes into mass production anytime soon, I still doubt I'll be able to get it.
I'd also say that the awareness of ear diseases in general is low. For example, I had no idea Meniere's disease exists to begin with, and once I've got it, I found out that there's no option to output mono sound to headphones nowadays (at least the wireless ones; I bet you can force mono sound into wired headphones with an appropriate adapter), which is greatly annoying.
 
I've been wondering why this guy literally disappeared from the racing scene. I really feel for him, unable to do what he loves.
 
There is a surgery for hyperacusis. Is was developed by Dr. Silverstein at the silver Institute in Sarasota Fl. They do this surgery Quite often and the success rate is over 80% according to articles. I’m going for my consultation next month. You might want to give them a call.
 
Gene Dillon
There is a surgery for hyperacusis. Is was developed by Dr. Silverstein at the silver Institute in Sarasota Fl. They do this surgery Quite often and the success rate is over 80% according to articles. I’m going for my consultation next month. You might want to give them a call.
Click to expand...
It is an experimental surgery, and the 80% is what they claim, not the 'articles'. There are a lot of guys in the Hyperacusis Surgery FB group who's surgery failed, and as a result now their Hyperacusis is even worse. Of course there are positive examples as well, so all in all, this surgery is risky, and won't help in many cases. Still, it is worth to check it, and go for a consultation.
By the way: have you done the surgery?
 

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