Bill Ward suffering hearing problems #CarryGobySeanKellz #FutureGroupNG via @i_amreginaldjr

Former BLACK SABBATH star BILL WARD is battling a strange hearing condition which warps the way he perceives sounds.

The drummer is convinced his hearing has been affected by years of loud gigs and studio sessions, but he has yet to receive a medical explanation so he is consulting expert doctors and neurologists in a bid to have the problem properly diagnosed.

He tells Dcheavymetal.com, "Through all the years and years and years of playing on stage, and playing very loud, I think that there are some prices to pay... I can hear, I guess, well enough but sound shock becomes more apparent if I went into a supermarket or a grocery store or into a restaurant where there's multiple voices and multiple sounds... I have a very difficult time listening to things that are right next to me. If someone's talking to me I can barely hear them but I can actually hear things that are going on two aisles over."
Ward has been dealing with the issue for many years, but he only went to a doctor after seeing a documentary about a soldier who suffered hearing damage in a warzone.
He adds, "I did see a documentary a few months back now. It was about a soldier that had been in Iraq and they were focused on this soldier and what he went through when he walked into supermarkets having been around bombs and explosion... I thought 'Oh my God... I feel the same way. I feel just like this guy, the things that he was going through'. I went to see a couple of doctors to talk about it, neurologists. So we're still researching it you know, we're still going through it... I'm sure there's other musicians (with this condition), I'm sure I'm not unique in this at all."