When you leave a loud concert and your ears are ringing, that’s called "tinnitus." If you spend too much time listening to loud music–be it at a concert or through headphones–that high-pitched whine can become permanent. It’s like having a squealing mosquito in your ear that never, ever goes away.
Lars Ulrich of Metallica has a bad case. He says he drives him crazy. There’s no cure, either. Or is there? German researchers took music, removed the notes that matched the frequency of the ringing in patients’ easy and let them listen.
After about a year of listening to his modified music, most patients reported a significant drop in the volume of the ringing in their ears. Music therapy to tinnitus caused by loud music? It looks promising.