Does Tinnitus Mean No More Headphones?

I'm a month and half into tinnitus and I have not used earphones/headphones since then. I truly miss listening to music. It's seriously a drug. Haha. I got tinnitus from loud earphones from the past couple years. I have a pair of food headphones I want to use. I heard they're a lot more safer than earphones, and I plan on listening to maximum 45% of full volume (I obviously don't ever plan on listening to music at very high volumes anymore).
Do you think it's too risky or should I forget about headphones forever?

 

Ditch the headphones and listen to music! It's a drug for me too and even with bad h listen to it..I think it's theraputic to be honest. However it took me 2 years to get enough courage to use headphones again..I use the Marley ones not earbuds, and at real low volume..only occasionally. though...Also use spotify rather than You Tube...

 

So you think it's best not to use headphones anymore?

 

I Would use them if they don't bother you, why wouldn't you? You do have a volume control that you can use if you find it too loud.

Its funny people ditch the headphones but subject themselves to "normal sounds" traffic noise etc, I find this strange.

 

What matters most, hopefully getting rid of T or music. Why not use a CD player. Give the ear chance to recover. The T is telling you something. I love music, fireworks, musicals but headphones, fireworks or musicals I will not do again. My T has ruined my life, I'm not go info risk making it worse.

 

Why not use old-fashioned loudspeakers then? I find the sound be more comfortable and controllable when it's coming from a pair of speakers in an acoustic environment (=room).

Using headphones should still be possible, as long as they're not too loud. How loud 45% is depends on what you're plugging them in to. Some devices are louder than others. I'd personally go lower than that. I also heard that (open) headphones are better than earplugs, the latter being described as 'plungers for your ears'. I'm not sure if it's true though.
Be careful when listening to music on the bus etc.. The environmental noise makes it easy to turn the volume up too much without noticing how loud it really is.

And as always, regularly take breaks from listening to music.

 

I still listen to music, but not as loud as before. I usually listen to music with 25% volume, and I never have any problems with that. Of course I also take breaks 2 hours before I go to sleep, and then I listen to isocronic tones and other relaxing sounds, which makes it easier for me to fall asleep.

 

I use open back headphones for listening, I don't have any issue with them at all. I do have have issue with earphones though, maybe it's because the sound quality isn't anywhere near as good and their proximity to the eardrum.

@CarloZ If you keep the volume at a sensible level and you get any warning signs like ear fatigue, louder T or feel uncomfortable, then you should be fine to carry on. You don't have to stop things you love, just need to be a little more careful and make sure you don't over do them.

 

Are you sure that first sentence is what you meant?

 

Ha ha, well spotted.... And if you DON'T get any warning signs you should be fine, is what it should have said.

 

Just checking
Some psychologists have the opinion that you should just what you want, providing that you're 'theoretically safe'. This would mean ignoring your body's warning signs and trying not to be 'irrationally afraid'.

 

Yeah this is what happening to me. I was told it was all in my head, ingnore the pain and carry on. Here I was sitting in loudish pubs watching playoff hockey at T onset trying to push through the discomfort and ear pain only to makes things permanently worse.

It's really quite scary the amount of terrible advise out there when it comes to tinnitus. I've never in my life been told to ignore my body after an injury and move on, I don't know why I bought in. I guess I wanted to believe.

All this great advise at 180 per hour, man am I a sucker.

 

Aww... I'm so sorry to hear that

I don't think you're a 'sucker' though... at that rate you'd just assume they'd know what they're talking about.
These psychologists should know better... in my experience they're always less careful when they're not personally accountable. Ask a medical professional to give a second opinion and to put in in writing, and they'll almost start talking legalese
I also spoke to a psychiatrist who talked like 'of course you should go to that concert! Are you playing gigs again? Musicians should be able to play, so go and have fun!' Even if he's right, I'd rather slowly get back into music, than to jump right in. Never blindly trust these people with your life, I learned that the hard way too.

How did your psychologist respond when your t got worse?


I guess you shouldn't "overprotect", but there's nothing wrong with being extra careful...
Personally, I'm not going to repeat the behaviour that got me into trouble in the first place.

 

Many sound therapies, like Neuromonics, are delivered through what? Headphones. In ear maskers are -- inside your ear! Like an ear bud.

It's not the headphone itself. It's the way you use it. As others have said here, keep the volume low and take periodic breaks.

Also: I always plug the headphone into whatever device I am using, and check the device volume slider, BEFORE I put that headphone, or ear bud, inside or next to my ear. Some devices will jack up the volume as soon as something is plugged into the headphone jack and give you a nasty surprise if you put the headphones without testing things first.

 

You can use headphones without worry when you don't play the music too loud!

 

You can use them, but you have to be careful with the volume. I personally do not use them anymore because I have developed an irrational fear towards them. I mainly just listen to music now over speakers when I have he desire to do so. If anything, I think it has made me appreciate music more.

Before I got tinnitus, I would just listen to my ear buds all day. I had a permanent soundtrack of sorts. I did enjoy this, but it desensitized me to many things that can be appreciated with music. I was popping songs like candy, just shuffling until I found the song with the hook I wanted.

Now that I only listen to music when I absolutely have to, I can sit down and listen to an album from start to finish and appreciate the album as a whole work that ebbs and flows into the songs. I also developed a keen ear for production quality, different instrument tones, and the layering of instruments.

Excuse the ramble, but yes, if you have no discomfort use your headphones! All of our ears are different, so remember to listen to what your ears have to tell you. If you feel uncomfortable, stop.

 

Cool post^

 

I did not realize that this thread was so old until after I commented.

 

Does your tinnitus bother you? Or do the sounds you hear coming from headphones bother your ears now since you just listen through speakers?

 

Not at all thankfully. I have very mild tinnitus. Most of it bothering me comes from anxiety of it becoming catastrophic. I have always protected my hearing and have gotten even more protective of it.

Case in point, these "super-hip" ear muffs I wear over top of ear plugs when I play. I also load up on NAC, magnesium, and B vitamins before the show and for a couple days after.

All the cool punk kids make fun of me. Not like I can hear them. They won't be able to hear me laughing at them in the next ten years.

 

Well anyone that makes fun of you for protecting your hearing is just not intelligent at all. I wish I could of known the damages of not protecting my hearing enough while being in a band a few years ago. I suffer the consequences now.

But that's great you protect your hearing with ear muffs and supplements. As long as you keep doing that when being at a loud event then you shouldn't have to worry about your hearing/tinnitus getting worse for a long time and maybe even never. I just can't say that about any situations where a loud noise happens by you when you're not ready for it. But protecting your hearing when jamming or at concerts will always benefit your hearing greatly.

What's the name of your band and what kind of music do you play? I play the drums too even though I have an acoustic guitar in my profile picture. I've been playing drums for about 7 years. Guitar for 2 years.