Can Noise Cancelling Headphones Make Tinnitus Worse?

I'm noticing my worsening T getting worse and more so, worse at a faster rate once I started using noice canceling headphones. Turns out the headphone match the sounds, but only with reversed waves, so your brain is picking up the sound that the headphones are creating, but your hearing mechanisms in your ears don't hear it. Because T is usually neurologically caused, these types of headphones can make T a lot worse, like in my case.

 

NEW MEMBER TODAY - I have been in tears for the past 2 weeks. My T has shot through the roof and I am terrified on how I am to live the rest of my life with this maddening hissing and buzzing. The only recent lifestyle change has been elevated use of my Bose Noise Cancelling headphones,on planes, sometimes with audio books and sometimes just for the "quiet". I wanted to join in this headphone thread and introduce myself, I will also now start looking for ideas in Forum for helping tame my symptoms, recommended forum threads much appreciated.

 

I just bought some noise reducing headphones. Still waiting for them to come in but I hope they work. They are just earmuffs with headphones so it cancels out the ambient sound passively. I'm not sure what NRR they have, but I hope it's decent.

 

Hey guys, I see everyone has different levels of T and use noise cancelling headphones for different reasons but I just wanted to give my experience.
I know a lot of people use the terms headphones and earphones interchangeably but there is an important difference between them I didn't know about until recently, so I'll be speaking about earphones in this case.

The ear specialist I went to suggested using headphones instead of any form of earphones to avoid further damage (my T was caused my loud noises). Switching from earphones to headphones or a speaker in your room set to a low volume will help reduce exposure to noises which may worsen T, even if they're masking it in the moment.

Also, I would suggest not listening to anything through earphones at night and falling asleep with them in as the specialist also said that causes damage as you're exposing your ears to noise when you're supposed to be giving them a rest. I know it's really hard to fall asleep without some noise in the background to mask the T and I used to fall asleep with earphones every night, but since I stopped using earphones completely I've noticed a reduction in the T so it's worth resisting the urge. I suggest trying out different methods to calm yourself down, I've eventually gotten used to the buzzing and often times fall asleep quickly because I phase out to the sound.

So from my experience earphones are best to be avoided, rather have a speaker in your room at a low volume rather than sound going directly into your ear.

I think in general it's a good idea to avoid earphones and even headphones, as in doing so I have really noticed an improvement in the last few weeks- I haven't made any changes aside from wearing my custom molded earplugs in noisy situations such as driving, vacuuming and band practice, as well as not using earphones or headphones for the last few weeks. Although this isn't an option for everyone, I think reducing exposure to noise is key in many T cases since most of the time T is worsened by noise.

It's been a huge lifestyle change for me, I used to not be able to do anything without my earphones blasting music, at first for general enjoyment and then for masking the T. But reducing exposure to noise helps, at least mentally, because I no longer feel like I am causing damage and I no longer have maddening ringing episodes like I used to before. Slowly but surely things will get better if your T is caused by noise damage like mine is. We just have to be gentle with our hearing and cautious of what we expose our ears to.

Hope this helps

 

Would love to hear how you are all getting on. A lot of stories here.
I'm experimenting with things. Just went out using ear plugs. My level went up a bit, not too much, but I think my ears don't like having earplugs in them.

My T came on due to stress. I noticed that the more I relax, the better it is.

Thinking headphones for outside to protect from those big noises, car horns etc, but in the house, have music going at a decent level and just let my ears get used to normal sounds. Odd thing is, I have next to no hearing loss,,,,,, must be stress and tight neck muscles. I notice when i clench my jaw, the sound changes,,, tmj as well, linked right.

stay strong, be positive, get as much support as you need. We are all here to help each other, that's a huge thing. Seeing my ent helped and having a supportive gf.

good luck all, peaceful sounds.

 

Hello Folks

I see the headphones as protection from loud noises: car horns, people yelling/crying because these spike my T.

Otherwise, I am fine with normal, under 80db sounds.

It is annoying, I have no hearing loss, this came on through stress, but I generally stay in the house to control my noise environment.

 

Joined the forum for this thread.

I "upgraded" from Bose AE wireless 2 head phones to the QC35s. These are really nice noise cancelling headphones.

I got a severe head cold a week ago and used my noise cancelling headphones listening to music for a few hours continuously. Afterwards, I had tinnitus at a level I had not previously noticed.

I'm feeling better from my cold now, but the tinnitus is still going. I've tried using them a few times, and I think that they are making the tinnitus worse.

I'm trying to take a break from these things and see if I can get back to low or no tinnitus.

I wanted to throw out there that noise cancelling isn't creating silence but essentially doubling the amount of sound you're hearing by playing back the opposite waves of what's going on in the room or outside the headphones.

I can not yet definitively link the noise cancelling to elevated tinnitus, but if you think you're also experiencing this, please post also about your experience.

 

Did you have tinnitus before using the headphones??

 

I attended a lot of loud raves in the late 90s and many loud concerts. I've experienced tinnitus from these events plenty but it always went away, I thought this was a normal part of being a live music-goer.

I started protecting my hearing at loud events a few years ago but not because of tinnitus. Because I was worried about losing my hearing.

So I've had tinnitus. But I haven't been to any concerts or raves in a while.

Without "just cause" I've never had tinnitus to the point where I was laying in bed and was like, "whoa, this is weird." And then the next day. "Dang, this is weird, way loud ring, I need to google this."

Then I started thinking about what was going on. I think it was my cold, but I also think it was while I had this bad cold I was using these noise cancelling headphones too. I don't know but I think they may be related.

I used a very similar model, the around ear wireless 2 bose headphones for a full year and never had tinnitus issues. They are the same thing with no noise cancelling.

 

Is this correct? Didn't know

 

Yes.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/audio-music/noise-canceling-headphone3.htm

 

No. It's not correct: it's not doubling the amount of sound that ends up hitting your ear drum. It's actually reducing that amount through destructive interference.

 

Ahh! Good to know! I was all worried of my purchase I mean I don't plan to play music but use them to block external sounds when sleeping etc... You mean it will be safe to use? Thank you a lot for answering and making it more clear

 

My audiologist suggested using noise cancelling over ear headphones over in ear headphones

 

If a person has tinnitus caused by "loud noise". In my opinion using any type of headphone even at low volume there is a risk of making the tinnitus worse. Considering how severe and debilitating tinnitus can be. It is beyond me why anyone with noise induced tinnitus take such a risk. I believe the advice that your Audiologist has given you is wrong.

Michael

 

I got Bose QC30 headphones a few months ago and since then I have noticed much louder continous ringing in my ears. In the past I would only have any slight ringing in silent environments but since using this brand, the tinnitus has got much louder so that it can be heard even in noisy environments. Previously I used Sony noise cancelling headphones and never had this problem. And I never turn the volume up loud so there seems to be a serious problem with these. I even bought a bat sound detector to test them to see if they were emitting a higher frequency sound that was causing undetected hearing damage but the bat detector did not detect a noise output at higher levels.

 

I’m experiencing the same T symptoms after purchasing Bose QC30 earphones a few months ago. Prior to using these noise cancelling earphones I rarely had T symptoms, occassionaly after concerts and for limited duration (few days after concert).

I only use the earphones at low-moderate levels (never above 40% on iphone volume control,mostly at 20-30%). I originally thought it was the isolated sound pressure from low frequencies enclosed by in-ear design. Had never considered noise cancelling as the cause.

I love the performance of these units but fear it could be putting my hearing at risk.