Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich recently spoke to HLN's "Healh Minute" about the hearing problems that have stemmed from playing music for so long, which is called tinnitus.
"I've been playing loud rock music for the better part of 35 years. I never used to play with any kind of protection. It's this constant ringing in the ears. It never sort of goes away. It never just stops."
Ulrich says he first started noticing the problem whilst on tour in 1988...
"I would fall asleep often with the television on, and I would wake up in the middle of the night to go turn the TV off. Except it wasn't actually on. When I realized that I was doing that frequently, actually getting up to turn the TV off that was not on to begin with, I realized that maybe I had some issues."
"If you get a scratch on your nose, in a week that'll be gone. When you scratch your hearing or damage your hearing, it doesn't come back. I try to point out to younger kids ... once your hearing is gone, it's gone, and there's no real remedy."
