Hello, New Here But Not New to Tinnitus

Hi , i damadged my my hearing in my right ear with an ipod in 2006. I had terrible tinnitus for about 8 months but over time it slowly went away. What i discovered later was that it didnt really go away it is still there under the surface if you know what i mean. It will come back when i listen to music or play my guitar even at low volume especially with headphones. I can no longer use headphones anymore because it doesnt matter what level i have the volume my tinnitus gets irritated and can take 2 or 3 days to settle down again.

The problem with this is that i play guitar and now i want to record my acoustic guitar and vocals. I know very well that headphones are important for recording music. I would like to know if continually irritating my tinnitus using headphones at very low volume will make my tinnitus worse over time. Im am very reluctant to buy a pair of headphones for my home studio in fact its the only essential thing i havnt bought but i want to make accurate recordings. Is it possible to use headphones often with tinnitus?

 

@Hiss I likewise have difficulty listening to music with my bad ear (the one with tinnitus; my tinnitus is also unilateral). But, I've noticed, when I've used an ear plug--such as Etymonics--it softens the sound and my tinnitus is not nearly as irritated. I just use the cheaper ones, but they also have specialized ones for musicians. You might try the less expensive ones and see if it helps.

I'm not sure what causes this problem, but probably has something to do with hearing loss, even if it's minor. Have you had your hearing tested? If you have hearing loss, you might be able to wear hearing aids, and your audiologist might be able to adjust them to prevent this from happening. That's what I want to do.

Anyway, here's a link to the hearing plugs I use; but if you like them you'll want to go for a pro model:

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

There are several musicians on the board, and they probably will also offer advice.

 

Hi , thanks for your reply i have the cheap ones too and will buy the custom made ones soon.

 

Hi Hiss, you shouldn't be using earplugs while in your homestudio because you can control the volume.

What kind of headphones do you have ? There are earbuds, semi openeded or closed headphones, maybe you'll find one that suits you well.

But if you are just recording vocals and guitar, do you need monitoring or a backing track ?

 

I find it bizarre that headphones specifically triggers your tinnitus.

 

Hi James , I dont own any headphones anymore. I used to own a pair of ultrasone headphones but i sold them because they kept triggering my tinnitus. So if i were to buy a pair of studio headphones what type would be less likely to trigger my tinnitus? Im just recording guitar and vocals so maybe i could still make decent recordings without headphones?

 

No speakers do too but headphones are much worse.