New Victim at Age 19 — Can Having Headphones on Most of the Time Cause Tinnitus?

[Yugal Rai]

Hello, it's been 4 days since I started hearing this ringing sound in my head. It all started during one night, when I was using my phone (I wasn't watching any loud videos, I was on Messenger) and all of a sudden, constant ringing sound appeared. At that time I thought it was background noise or something so I didn't care too much.

Next day, I could still hear the ringing sound. I thought it was the cause of build up ear wax so I went to book an appointment for ear wax removal. They said my left ear don't have much ear wax but my right got some. And I described them about the ringing sound that I hear, they recommended me to see a doctor ASAP... later that day I went to see doctor and she told me it might be tinnitus... she said I have to book an appointment with GP to do MRI test to see the problem. As of now I'm still waiting to book a GP appointment.

I'm on my final year of college and I'm working really hard to get in university. I like to put my headphones on and listen to music whenever I do my my assignment or independent work. I go to gym 4-5 days a week and I have my headphone on all the time. Basically I have my headphones on most of the time. Does having headphones on most of the time cause tinnitus???

I'm always in tears when I'm sleeping... it is horrible and I cannot sleep.
It already affected my study because I cannot focus in class when it's quiet. All I can hear is ringing sound.

Any advice on what to do and don't? Any way to make it go because I cannot stand it. I regret so much putting headphones on. Soo much. My doctor said, even she got tinnitus when she was working at dance club when she was around my age and she still has got it. She told me she had to learn to deal with it. Maybe she just told this fake story just to make me feel better.

 

[GregCA]

The way you put it makes it sound like you very frequently have some sounds fed into your ears. If you were listening to moderately loud music for long periods of time (whether via headphones or not), that would be the smoking gun, IMHO. Even if it didn't appear too loud to you, it could have been beyond a threshold that causes trouble.

If I were you, I'd rest my ears for a while. There's a good chance your tinnitus will fade.

Good luck!

 

[sleepingsiren]

I'm 19 as well. Young people suffer more and more from tinnitus. I wasn't aware such thing existed so it was scary. To sleep, you may want to play background music until you get used to it in the mean time. I've had it for months now and it was hard going to college at the same time, I have been a straight A student most of my college career. I have an MRI coming up as well. Sometimes tinnitus can come out of nowhere and stays. You might want to get a hearing test to see if you've lost any hearing. Have you told your family? If you have any.

I'm so sorry this has happened to you. But many of us suffer from this, eventually you will get used to it, even if you don't want to.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Does having headphones on most of the time cause tinnitus???

It does, for some people. Evidently, it has also caused Your tinnitus. Your T will likely begin to fade, and 3-24 months from now you will either get to hear silence again, or get to the "can hear it only in quiet rooms" stage. If that ever happens, if you resume your habit of using headphones, your tinnitus will likely return, and it will be less likely to fade.

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/isnt-it-ok-to-use-headphones-even-at-low-volume.25287/

I believe you will find some of the tips on
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822
to be useful to you.

 

[just1morething]

Basically I have my headphones on most of the time

Yeah like others said I would lay off the headphones for awhile and get an audiogram done. It could fade being you only had the ringing for 4 days. Going into a fight or flight panic mode will only make things worse. Perhaps Klonopin or Valium would help short term to calm the noise down. As I'm finding out some Dr.'s won't prescribe benzos though.

 

[GSC]

Not to say this could be the case for you, but my friend too suffered from Tinnitus up to 2-3 weeks before it finally left him. Though! He listened to two songs on max volume. I hope you see fading soon, and I know it's very difficult, but try and take your mind off of it. Don't give it any attention. Try and get loads of sleep so your body heals when it's suppose to.

 

[Yugal Rai]

Hello everyone, thank you sooo much for taking your time to reply and give advice. Hopefully, it fades away!!! Finger crossed!!

I will never ever!! Put headphone ever again from now on... I was just wondering, will it be ok to go gym since they play loud musics on speakers.

 

[GSC]

Hello everyone, thank you sooo much for taking your time to reply and give advice. Hopefully, it fades away!!! Finger crossed!!

I will never ever!! Put headphone ever again from now on... I was just wondering, will it be ok to go gym since they play loud musics on speakers.

I would take a rest/break from the gym for a month if I were you unless you have some GOOD hearing protecting, because people go there with hearing protection and still get spikes, but the choice is up to you.

 

[Yugal Rai]

What do you mean by "still get spikes"?... Also, I'm kind of curious about your tinnitus story? What do you think might have caused your tinnitus? Do you still have it?

I just came across this website today and I'm so happy from my bottom of heart that people actually care about each other in here..... usually internet is full of trolls and toxic people..

 

[GSC]

What do you mean by "still get spikes"?... Also, I'm kind of curious about your tinnitus story? What do you think might have caused your tinnitus? Do you still have it?

I just came across this website today and I'm so happy from my bottom of heart that people actually care about each other in here..... usually internet is full of trolls and toxic people..

Like if something is bothersome to your ear, the volume of your ringing will get higher temporarily, but that isn't always the case. Which is why I think you should let your ears rest as much as possible instead of going to a gym with loud noises without ear protection. I think that's what you should focus on right now. Giving your ears a much needed breather and your brain a rest with sleep.

My acoustic trauma? I was blasted by a house alarm that's classified to be 85 decibels from 10 ten feet away. But, alas, I was one foot away. Meaning this falls somewhere between 115-125 decibel. I was blasted twice. I don't know how long. But it happened and it is what it is.

This forum is a good support system. You're not alone.

 

[just1morething]

@Yugal Rai, you could consider a short course of prednisone if your Dr. will prescribe it. It may be worth a try being your tinnitus is so recent.

 

[Yugal Rai]

Omg, it's heartbreaking... Is your hearing alright?.... I can't even imagine what you been through. I hope everything goes well for you. Since I've been aware of what tinnitus is, I've been constantly telling my little sister to take care of ear and don't put loud headphone all the time.. I just don't want her to go through this.

 

[GSC]

Omg, it's heartbreaking... Is your hearing alright?.... I can't even imagine what you been through. I hope everything goes well for you. Since I've been aware of what tinnitus is, I've been constantly telling my little sister to take care of ear and don't put loud headphone all the time.. I just don't want her to go through this.

I think for all every day sounds my hearing is decent/alright. But I fear my higher frequencies are fucked LOL. It's been hard, don't get me wrong, but I'm trying to stay above it all and be careful, hoping for fading and injections for my upcoming ENT to help, or at least assist. That's good that you're telling your sister. This is a horrible thing to go through. I hope everything goes well for you as well.

 

[Bill Bauer]

What do you mean by "still get spikes"?

Tinnitus is said to spike when it changes in such a way that it is harder to ignore. It could get louder, more intense, or its pitch could get higher. It could change from a hiss to a high-pitch tone, or one might get brand new tones.

will it be ok to go gym since they play loud musics on speakers.

You might consider protecting your ears during the first 3-6 months. Avoidance is the most reliable protection, as earplugs might provide a false sense of security. Another alternative is to find a gym that doesn't play music during a certain time, and to visit that gym at that time. Eventually, you might try going to a gym that has music, while wearing earplugs. Stay there for 10-15 minutes. If you don't get a spike, come back the next day and stay longer. If you don't experience a spike, then you can keep gradually increasing the time of your exposure.

Note, that some people are more vulnerable than others. Some people can be exposed to loud music at the gym (while not wearing any earplugs) and not get spikes (although some of us suspect that there is a negative impact on their healing process).

Check out the posts below

Relative newbies to tinnitus are likely to find all the information/opinions above quite confusing. So here are a few common-sense rules to follow:

1. The best protection of all is avoidance. Even the best earplugs can't guarantee complete hearing protection so those relatively new to tinnitus are best advised to avoid prolonged loud noise exposure - especially amplified sound at for example live concerts and sports events. This may involve lifestyle changes.

2. When in doubt, use hearing protection. In the many tasks we all do through the week, some will inevitably involve exposure to noise - which may be at higher levels than we at first realise - so using hearing protection for many of these is only sensible.

3. Build quiet into your day. It's not a good idea to be wearing hearing protection all the time - so you need to give your ears a break by ensuring that there will be quieter times during your day when hearing protection isn't necessary.This may involve changing your routine. Use soft masking noise and light music (not using headphones) to avoid "silence" where tinnitus is most noticeable.

4. Don't stress about stress. Tinnitus newbies are forever being told that the thing which makes tinnitus worse is stress. But while it's true that how you are feeling at a particular moment can make tinnitus temporarily louder, it won't have a lasting effect. But prolonged loud noise exposure can make tinnitus permanently louder. So don't stress about stress - but do be concerned about noise.

I didn't read all the above comments, but did peruse a fair amount of it, and ran across many good points on both sides of the argument. What strikes me is there seems to be an underlying assumption (of course I may be wrong on this) that all brains and neurological systems are created equal. The way I see it, that's simply not the case, so everybody's way of dealing with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis is going to have to be highly individualized.

I read a book many years ago called "Adrenal Syndrome". A lot of the book touched on the residual resiliency of people's adrenal glands as they respond to life's stresses. Very low resiliency often resulted in months/years of chronic debilitating exhaustion following a stressful event(s) in their lives. Very high resiliency indicated essentially the opposite. The author broke this down into some rough numbers:

25% of people have low resiliency, meaning normal life stressors will often send them into some degree of a tailspin.
25% of people have high resiliency, meaning that no matter how severe a stressor comes into their lives, they will be able to cope without becoming debilitated to any degree.
50% of people fall somewhere inbetween.

I believe there are some kind of corresponding numbers for a person's brain and neurological resiliency as well, which can greatly affect the ability to cope with tinnitus. (I believe adrenal resiliency also plays a major role in our ability to cope). -- Based on these assumptions, it's pretty easy for me to conclude that what may be overprotection for one person will be underprotection for another, and vice versa.

I think the main point to understand for someone new to tinnitus is that their path forward is going to be a lot of "testing the waters". Generally, IMHO, it's going to take a few weeks or months to get important insights that will help us achieve a healthy balance. In all likelihood, most people are going to learn from experience when their over-protecting or under-protecting.

I've come to believe however, that in those early months, if one is going to err in either direction, it should be toward overprotection. It just seems to me the consequences of underprotection (which could result in permanent injury) in those early times are much more dire than the consequences of overprotection--which as I understand, generally results in temporary setbacks.

Doing a number of things to better support the brain and neurological system and the body's stress response (adrenal glands) is quite high on my list of recommendations I would make to anybody with tinnitus. Doing so might even prevent phonophobia or OCD, etc., as we go through our learning curves -- Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Yugal Rai]

Thank you so much for the information! Greatly appreciate!! @Bill Bauer

What do you mean by "higher frequencies are fucked up" @GSC

 

[GSC]

Thank you so much for the information! Greatly appreciate!! @Bill Bauer

What do you mean by "higher frequencies are fucked up" @GSC

Above what they test for during auditory test

 

[Yugal Rai]

Do you think I should do an auditory test? Btw where are you from?

 

[Lane]

I will never ever!! Put headphone ever again from now on...

@Yugal Rai -- I'm happy to hear that. Regardless of whether the headphones caused your tinnitus (I strongly suspect they did), your ears now need to "REST" and heal. So not only will avoiding headphones help, but doing anything you can think of that will calm your system and allow you to go into "healing mode" will help as well.

Can you get to some nature settings? Just listening to the wind and the birds? Or to the ocean? Or by a river or creek? These kinds of things can all be helpful in the coming weeks. -- You may also want to minimize EMF exposure, as that has been known to cause and/or exacerbate tinnitus. -- All the Best!

 

[GregCA]

I will never ever!! Put headphone ever again from now on... I was just wondering, will it be ok to go gym since they play loud musics on speakers.

I think it's the loudness of the music that is the problem, not the headphones. If you play loud music over speakers it's not better than playing loud music over headphones, so I would avoid that gym if the environment involves loud music.

 

[Yugal Rai]

Thanks, also do long period of build of ear wax can cause tinnitus?

I need some advise on sleeping. I cannot sleep right now after waking up middle of night. I can't help overcome this thing.

 

[Yugal Rai]

@Lane what do you mean by EMF Exposure?

 

[Bill Bauer]

If you play loud music over speakers it's not better than playing loud music over headphones

This contradicts what many of us have noticed based on our personal experience: the same sound (i.e., the same volume by the time it reaches one's ear, not the sounds that are the same volume at the source) seems to be more likely to cause problems when the sound is pumped directly into the ear.

 

[GregCA]

This contradicts what many of us have noticed based on our personal experience: the same sound (i.e., the same volume by the time it reaches one's ear, not the sounds that are the same volume at the source) seems to be more likely to cause problems when the sound is pumped directly into the ear.

I don't know anyone who has done the experiment described above, ie blindly listen for 2 identical sounds not knowing whether they came via headphones or not, adjust them so that they are perceived of identical volume, and then describe whether one of the variants causes issues afterwards. If you have seen a testimony of someone doing exactly that, I'd like to see it too.

Of course, we'd still need to have a statistically relevant sample to derive any meaningful conclusion, but I'd already be surprised if there was a sample of one who did that.

 

[Lane]

@Lane what do you mean by EMF Exposure?

@Yugal Rai -- Literally all things that run on electricity give off EMFs (ElectroMagnetic Frequencies). Some on this board have reported their tinnitus started when new "smart meters" were installed on their house and in their neighborhood. One man reported he was convinced his tinnitus started from buying a new vehicle that had all the latest wireless bells and whistles, all of which give off lots of frequencies.

Things like cell phones, computers, TVs, etc. all give off EMFs. I myself notice that my tinnitus starts to ramp up after only about 15 minutes or so on the computer. So I use a grounding pad, which I put underneath my laptop, which grounds the EMFs into the ground wire of a nearby outlet. Obviously, some people are more sensitive to EMFs than others, but if you notice that your tinnitus improves after being away from these devices for longer than normal, than that would be an indication EMFs are affecting your tinnitus.

 

[OnceUponaTime]

Hi there, sorry you are struggling with tinnitus. Stay away from the headphones for now and like other members have said, stay away from loud noise and rest your ears for the next couple of months.

Hopefully it will fade away.

Good luck in your final year of college.​

Once

 

[Bill Bauer]

I don't know anyone who has done the experiment described above, ie blindly listen for 2 identical sounds not knowing whether they came via headphones or not

I was exposed to plenty of noises. Subjectively, a number of those noises appeared to be at similar volume to me. The ones that went directly into my ear (e.g., a loud phone), would always end up having more problems than the other kind of noise.

 

[GregCA]

I was exposed to plenty of noises. Subjectively, a number of those noises appeared to be at similar volume to me. The ones that went directly into my ear (e.g., a loud phone), would always end up having more problems than the other kind of noise.

So "many of us" turned into "only me", and you talk about a rough estimate with no blinding to take away any possible bias... Forgive me for not giving it much credence.

 

[Bill Bauer]

So "many of us" turned into "only me

You asked for an example, and I gave you one.

After I became aware of this phenomena, I began noticing it when others would describe it. This is what "many of us" is based on: 25 months of reading this forum. I didn't Save those posts, and you and others are free to ignore this information.

 

[another sean]

@Yugal Rai My tinnitus started initially the same way as yours. it eventually faded mostly away and I could listen to music again thru speakers with no problems. 7 years later I thought headphones would be ok but they weren't, it caused my tinnitus to spiral out of control. So no matter what, don't use headphones ever again, even in 10 years. no matter how much it fades away. no matter how much you feel fine. Just stick with speakers at reasonable volumes, always. But give your ears a rest from speakers until it does fade away which I feel it will.

 

[Yugal Rai]

@another sean thank you so much!!! What about your tinnitus now? Can u still hear slightly when it's completely silent?