Metallica drummer struggles with tinnitus: "Once your hearing is gone, it's gone"

From CNN:

"I've been playing loud rock music for the better part of 35 years," said Ulrich, 46, drummer for the heavy metal band Metallica. "I never used to play with any kind of protection."

Early in his career, without protection for his ears, the loud noise began to follow Ulrich off-stage. "It's this constant ringing in the ears," Ulrich said. "It never sort of goes away. It never just stops." It is a condition called tinnitus, a perception of sound where there is none.

"I try to point out to younger kids ... once your hearing is gone, it's gone, and there's no real remedy."

The military is generating a tremendous number of tinnitus patients."

References:
Metallica drummer struggles with ringing in ears. CNN.

Tinnitus Support Message Board: Going to a rock concert -- taking my earplugs.

Tinnitus: Patients do not have to ‘just live with it’. CCJM, 2011.

Tinnitus relief: Suggestions for patients. CCJM, 2011.