Can I Still Use Earphones?

Hi, I’m 16 and my GP recently diagnosed me with tinnitus. She said that there’s no apparent cause as my hearing seems fine, my heart rate and blood levels appear to be normal and my balance is okay. The only thing she told me is that my sinuses are blocked and that I hear clicking when I move my jaw because I likely tense it a lot when I’m stressed. She gave me nasal spray and that was that.

What I usually hear is a high pitched hiss at night (kinda like a refrigerator). I’ve been hearing this for as long as I can remember though, I just always thought it was normal.

I read that people with tinnitus shouldn’t use earphones or headphones and now I feel pretty upset. My earphones have always been a necessity for me. It’s how I cope with my OCD. I own a pair of Air Pods and I really don’t want to have to give them up. I used to use them a lot when I daydreamed but now I only use them on road trips and bus rides. They never seemed to aggravate the problem in anyway. I also don’t listen to music at high levels, I’ve always been careful with my hearing. My GP didn’t say anything about earphones, she just told me to try and distract myself. Is it okay if I still listen to music, just at moderate levels?

 

Why? I got T from using earbuds/ear phones. If you are willing to worsen tinnitus and make things 100X worse then so be it.

 

But it hasn’t worsened because of my earphones yet and I’ve been using them for most of my life. Is using them in moderation really that bad? :/

 

Yes, even at low volumes. If you love music so much listen to it on your laptop on low volumes (no earbuds/ear phones). This is something YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP, no earbuds ever again, otherwise you are risking of making things worse and you dont want to make it worse trust me. I made my T worse and regret it every day..now my T is very severe and I can hear it over everything.

 

I would strongly recommend against using earphones, particularly in-ear ones. The last time I used mine was a couple weeks ago for about 10 min, at very low volume, and my ears still felt sore afterward. That sort of noise so close to your ears is really really not good when you have tinnitus.

I believe the statistic is that 90% of people with tinnitus have some hearing loss-if it's subtle enough it may not show up on an average hearing test. While you have not felt any effects yet, continuing to use earphones will do more harm than good, and as you get older the damage will get worse as your body is not as resilient.

sometimes if I'm desperate I will put my headphones on a higher volume and leave them around my neck so I can hear it a little bit. I know it's not any sort of good substitute but, you know...

 

What if I use them occasionally? Like if I’m on a plane? There’s a strong chance my T is because of TMJ. If this turns out to be the case, would earbuds be okay?

 

NOOOOOO

 

I doubt that what you read was written by doctors. There's a lot of earphone/headphone dogma out there, in particular on this site.
If you want professional advice about it then ask your doctors about it. The self-proclaimed experts on internet fora are rarely pros.

That doesn't surprise me.
In my case, my doctors explicitly told me I could still use earphones/headphones, as long as I kept the volume at reasonable levels. Ask your doctors about your particular situation.

 

Even better, talk with an Audiologist!

 

Thank you, you’re the one of the only people I’ve come across so far that are actually reasonable. My account is new but I’ve lurked for a while and I’m coming to the conclusion that this site is not only extremely biased, but actually unhealthy for people with mental illness because of the amount of fear and dogma.

From what I’ve seen, 90% of the people here have either severe tinnitus or OCD (ie).People who know how to manage their T generally don’t come to these types of forums.

I came for a second opinion but that’s something I’m kind of regretting now. Not because I don’t think users here mean well, but because looking for reassurance is just feeding my already severe OCD and it’s not even reassurance from qualified professionals.

I’m very congested right now, which is triggering a lot of ear symptoms for me and the stress is causing a lot of jaw issues too. For now, I’ll lay off loud music because I’m sick and my ears probably need to rest. After the virus passes though, I’m not going to let this alter my life. I’ll be more cautious but I’m not going to start going outside with cotton in my ears like my aunt because I’m too scared of damaging my ears. I have 100 different obsessions, I’m not going to let this become one and I really hope other folk with OCD and tinnitus don’t let it become one either.

 

Some people are fine with earphones and head phones so I would be cautious and keep them on the lowest setting and for a small amout of time and see how you get on.
Love glynis

 

I have a friend who’s an audiologist, I’ll ask him for an opinion. I’m suspecting he’ll just tell me the same thing; to keep the level reasonable.

 

The tinnitus sufferers here do not represent the majority. Some are here to supports others, many are stuck in a cycle of distress. Thankfully, statistically most people come here, learn, and leave quickly.

 

Thanks for your input. I used them on the bus for the past three weeks (80 minutes in total, from school and back) and I was completely fine. So far the only thing that seems to aggravate it is stress and weather. I’m suspecting allergies because my sinuses have been sore for weeks and my T spiked right after I had a head cold (fever and all).

 

Steam inhalation and a nasil spray can help and antihistamines for allergies.

 

You can't be serious.

 

She’s been helpful in every other regard, I don’t think it’s particularly healthy to mistrust your doctors. It’s not uncommon for T to have no apparent cause anyway. I’ve had it most of my life and my entire family has it. It could very well be a genetic thing. Point is that there’s such little research, I can’t blame her for not finding an immediate cause.

 

That sounds reasonable. Be aware. Listen to your body.

 

I think she wanted to hear positive answers to validate a reckless act... tinnitus or not everyone should avoid it as much as possible, simple.

our ears were not built to use earphones and earphones are not built to be safe for our ears... even at reasonable volume you can get tinnitus from it, or in the best case scenario improve greatly your chances of getting or worsening tinnitus.

 

Indeed. It makes sense too that this site would be comprised of a biased subset of the T population: those who deal with it well or are satisfied with the outcomes from interactions with their doctors don't feel the urge to come here. They just live their lives.

We in here are a subset of sufferers who, for one reason or another, is having trouble dealing with T. There's an occasional positive message, but by and large, the forum exudes suffering and the lack of reason that accompanies it.

 

That makes sense. I don’t think anyone recommends using earphones for prolonged periods for anyone. I just have a hard time buying into the idea that any use is detrimental for everyone with T.

 

It would probably be less bad if it's caused by TMJ and not noise induced hearing loss but is still a risk. use your discretion; as long as you don't over do it and use them sparingly you have a high chance of being alright, though I've seen many stories of people on here who've developed tinnitus from low volume level ear phones etc. planes can tend to make tinnitus worse from what I've seen on here at least so im not sure if using Earphones on a plane would be the best idea but again if you feel it will comfort you..

 

Personally I will never use them, for me it's simply not worth risk. Take it from someone who once had mild T and now has severe T, you should do absoulety everything possible to prevent it from getting worse. It really sucks though.. I miss them a lot.

 

It's one of those "it depends" answers and needs common sense

How many young people can live without headphones? I would wager not many

On what grounds did your GP diagnose you with tinnitus? Could you give us some more background?

Of course, if you have a history of regular noise exposure (e.g. concerts or listening through headphones at loud volume), then the continual wearing of headphones is a no no

The problem is that our world is getting noisier, more people have mental health problems and are comforted with their mobile devices and earphones. But when listening to music through earphones on public transport, people tend to crank the volume up to hear over the noise and over time, this causes damage to the ears and tinnitus

For those who suffer constantly with anxiety, often they monitor and check their symptoms which only perpetuates the cycle of anxiety

You are only 16. Live and enjoy your life as you see fit but use common sense

 

The rule of thumb was always 60 minutes a day at no more than 60% volume.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifes...olume-earbuds-health-1104-20151026-story.html

 

i always hear bad things about ear and headphones on this website. since i got T about 5 months ago I have continued using earbuds with no noticeable increase in T volume. I keep it at a reasonable volume, before T i would play at full.

 

The problem started after a sinus/ear infection. She gave me ear drops which helped for a bit but not fully. She said my ear infection was gone but my ET is still congested and I have a throat infection. Then she told me that I’m tensing my TMJ to much, which is why I keep hearing clicking when I open my mouth.

 

Jaw clicking due to TMJ isn't really tinnitus. Sounds like you need to see a maxillofacial specialist

 

The only way to find out if it won't affect you is to keep using them, I guess. Some people doesn't notice a difference, some others do. But as someone who probably got T because of headphones, I would not recommend it. If it might help, I've always, always kept the volume way below the recommended level. Listening to music and watching TV, about 20-40 %, while gaming between 1-4 %. I did use them four hours without taking any longer breaks though. Anyhow, it seems to be individual, and only you can know how it affects you and if you think that it's worth it.