COLDPLAY

Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin as well as Plan B, Gary Numan have revealed the painful diagnosis they've recently had – tinnitus. Chris explained that he had been suffering from tinnitus for over ten years. Now, he has fronted a new campaign highlighting the infliction. The Coldplay frontman explained that he has had the ear condition for the past decade, suffering from ringing in his ears and painful headaches, but had stabilized since started protecting his ears.

Doctors have reportedly warned him that he must wear earplugs in order to save his music career.

"I've had tinnitus for about ten years, but since I started protecting my ears it hasn't got any worse - touch wood," he said in a statement. "The band use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors. You can use industrial headphones but they look strange at a party."

Listening to loud music at gigs or in headphones are common causes of the condition, and Martin believes this is most the likely case for him. "Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don't think about until there's a problem. I wish I'd thought about it earlier."

Chris Martin has fronted a charity campaign titled Action on Hearing Loss, along with fellow musicians including Plan B, Gary Numan and Boy George. Rapper Plan B has also been stricken by the condition for some time - but initially thought he was just hearing passing trains. He said: "At first I thought it was trains rushing by as I live near a railway line. It's caused by years of being subjected to loud music."

Cars hitmaker Gary Numan added that he is no longer able to mix music after damaging his hearing. He said: "I didn't look after my ears and I'm in trouble."

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