Tinnitus and Headphones

I've seen a lot of posts to stop using headphones if you have tinnitus. Does this apply to all headphones or just the in-ear headphones?

Also, why does your hearing and tinnitus get worse with continued use of headphones once you have tinnitus? Does tinnitus somehow contribute to hearing degradation?

 

I can answer this one,

by using headphones, the sound penetrates much harder into your ears and that hard penetration is a lot harsher, than an open environment where the sound bounces everywhere. I listen to my music on my ear buds at very low volumes. I am not advising anything here

Yes, it can make your ears worst, tinnitus worst if you listen to loud sounds via headphones......

I ruined my ears mostly, at a young age by using my walkman(i miss those days ) with max volumes. I was young and didn't have this board or mentors to teach me and guide me...

 

So it looks like you are saying all headphones are equally bad when you have Tinnitus. I always thought that in-ear headphones were worse.

 

I would avoid it, that's just how i feel...

 

@Dmitriy

I strongly advise you not to use any type of headphone, earphones or earbuds to play music directly into the ears even at low volume, as there is a real risk of making your tinnitus much worse. Some people with noise induced tinnitus, use headphones without problems but I don't think it's a good idea. @fishbone is a tinnitus veteran and very experienced. He knows his auditory system very well. You are new to tinnitus and stand a chance of making a good recovery. I advise you not to jeopardise this by using headphones even at low volume. Please click on the link below and read my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View. In this document is a piece I've written on tinnitus and headphones, that you might find interesting.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

 

Listening to music at high volume on headphones - or any other source - can make things worse. I'm aware of no evidence or reasons why listening to music at low volume on headphones - or any other source - would/should make things worse.

Tinnitus itself does not contribute to further hearing degradation.

 

@Dmitriy

If you have time peruse the posts in this forum from members that have habituated to tinnitus and returned to using headphones keeping the volume low. Many have regretted it because the tinnitus increased and will not return to it's previous level. There are many people that love to talk about no scientific evidence for this and that when talking about tinnitus. I'm advising you on my 21 years experience with tinnitus and also counselling people with noise induced tinnitus. You have just been told by a @fishbone a veteran with 30 years experience in tinnitus: he wouldn't advise you to use headphones.

Please remember, if your tinnitus increases because of using headphones you will be the one in the suffering. Those that are telling you headphones cause no harm at low volume will not be there is help you if things go badly wrong.

The choice is yours.
All the best
Michael

 

I will put it this way,

If you have tinnitus, it is best to not listen to sounds in a closed off environments (ear buds/headphones). Listening to low to mid (safe level sounds) in an open environment is a lot better. Closed off environments can possibly do 2 things.

1. Further damage your ears and increase your tinnitus.
2. It can give you a spike and possibly not damage your ears.

I been at this for a very long time and i know , what works for me and what doesn't. If you recently got tinnitus, why even risk it? The spike is horrible or it can be. I'd listen to Michael on this one, he is speaking the truth and so am i.

I never want anyone to do to their ears, what i did to mine. I was a fool and i was young and i didn't have tinnitus talk 30 years ago..... We make our choices, so good luck!

 

Only someone that is experienced in "noise induced tinnitus" will know this. Well said fishbone. Someone with noise induced tinnitus risks making the condition worse if they use headphones even at low volume which can cause the tinnitus to Spike, but most probably wont cause any hearing damage.

Michael

 

The whole point is to avoid a spike or damage to the ears at all costs. Both are horrible and tons of member here are new and it can be difficult for them. I feel like i have a spike 2 4 7, but I careless about it (90% of time).

I truly meant , what i said. If i could have avoided the damage to my ears and hearing, I would have. No one educated me on this matter and told me, just how awful tinnitus can be and just how loud/annoying this crap can be.

In my case, i am not phased by this stuff and I am living my life to the fullest and enjoying it(with safe level noise and caution). I highly recommend that folks don't be foolish, like i was at a young age and avoid further damage to their ears.

 

You'll find all kinds of advice and dogmatism on this forum (and on other forums) when it comes to headphones. It's definitely a heated topic.

I actually asked my doctors about headphone use since I am an e-drummer and listen to my music through my headphones. They all (my surgeon, the half dozen ENTs, the half dozen audiologists, and the T expert from UCSF), without exception, recommended that I continue listening to music with my headphones. It's not the headphones they were really interested in, they just wanted me to keep listening to music. The only caveat was to make sure the volume was reasonable, no matter what the sound source was.

Like @Aaron123 mentioned, there doesn't seem to be any study or evidence showing that listening to headphones at low volume has a negative effect on T. From a physics standpoint (sound wave propagation etc), the ear is source agnostic - it only cares about the sound wave hitting the ear drum, irrespective of how it was generated and where.

Good luck!

 

@Dmitriy

You are new to tinnitus so I am going to tell you a few things that you may not know. Many ENT doctors know very little about tinnitus. They are physicians. They know about the anatomy of the ear and can treat it medically or surgically. There will be people that tell you headphone use causes no harm at low or sensible volumes and there's no scientific evidence reporting a person with tinnitus faces any risks. You don't need scientific reports just peruse some of the posts in this forum from peoople that use headphones and regretted it.

Furthermore, people that have tinnitus caused by an underlying medical condition that's not associated with "loud noise exposure" know nothing about the risks a person takes, using headphones when the tinnitus was orignally caused by loud noise.

A short while ago I recieved a PM message from someone that has recently got tinnitus caused by "headphone use" This person has had all the tests at ENT. The person's doctors and audiologists have explained their hearing is prefect and please take note: cannot understand why this person has tinnitus or hyperacusis. Can you believe that? I am going to post this message later on a seperate thread but omit the members name. This confirms what I've always said and been told my ENT doctor. ENT doctors are not tinnitus experts they are physicians. This is one of the reasons there are tinnitus support forums all over the internet when some of the people that should know about the condition and how to treat it haven't got a clue.

Michael

 

I would not use headphones etc as our ears are delicate and already having problems now with tinnitus.
It has to be your choice if you continue to use them but at least underatand the risks that they might make tinnitus worse for some people.
Love glynis

 

I'm just curious...
Any thoughts on conduction headphones? I'm talking about the type that work by inducing vibrations in your bones/skull... Like this for example. This technology has come along quite a bit over the past few years, I haven't tried it myself but I understand you can get pretty decent sound out of them.

I'm not sure if they would be any safer. I guess it depends on the nature of your hearing loss. They bypass the eardrum but of course the hair cells in the cochlea would still be receiving the sound waves.

 

I believe this type of headphone is even worse as sound can still reach the inner ear.
Michael

 

If using headphones at low volumes can be dangerous then what about hearing aids? they are also putting sound directly into the ear canal yet they are suggested as a treatment for T by ENT's and Audiologists.

 

This has been my question before, too. And what of white noise generators? The response was that audiologists program those devices, however many new models can be controlled by the user. I have tried a couple that allowed me to increase the volume to the point where they were louder than headphones on low volume.

I’m going to ask one of my ear specialists and my audiologist the next time I see them.

 

Headphones and Tinnitus.

The views on whether a person with tinnitus should listen to music through headphones are controversial. Some people show no adverse affects while others do even when the volume level is kept low. As I have already mentioned we are all different so the only way one can know, is to experiment and see what works best. I believe when the tinnitus was caused by exposure to loud noise/music and it has become intrusive - by this I mean a person having to seek help at ENT, then they shouldn’t listen to music through headphones no matter how low the volume is set.

Most music has syncopation throughout its frequency range, so it’s constantly changing in pitch, rhythm and timbre. The beat of the music and volume can also change while listening. This evokes pleasure and can stir our emotions. This happens whether we listen to music loud or soft, although certain types of music does sound better played at a higher volume than others and vice versa. Once the cochlear in the inner ear becomes affected by noise exposure, it is much more sensitive to sound. This is one of the reasons hyperacusis is often experienced with noise-induced tinnitus. I will be covering Hyperacusis and Habituation in more detail later on. The organ of the Corti, which is attached to the cochlea, has approximately 20,000 hair cells. These hair cells move to the vibration of sound and are just one of the components in the auditory system that enable us to hear. Someone that already has a sensitive auditory system due to noise-induced tinnitus and listens to music through headphones at a low volume, risks irritating the cochlear further; this can make the tinnitus louder and more intrusive.

It can be misleading when some health professionals tell tinnitus patients, listening to music through headphones is fine as long as the volume is kept low. These health professionals mean well and know a lot about the anatomy of the ear and are able to treat it medically or surgically. Therefore, it is not my intention to try and undermine their abilities or expertise. It must be said, many of them have never experienced intrusive tinnitus. This leads me to say, one of my ENT consultant’s who is an Audiovestubular physician, and someone that I have a lot of respect for, once told me that I know more about tinnitus than her because she never experienced it. I have spoken to people and corresponded with them by email and at Internet forums, complaining their tinnitus has become worse after listening to music through headphones even though the volume was kept low. My advice to anyone that has tinnitus that was caused by exposure to loud noise, is not to listen to music through headphones, as the auditory system is more sensitive.

White noise generators.

Some may question the use of white noise generators since they emit white noise directly into the ear. White noise generators don’t usually irritate the auditory system due to the volume being kept low and its frequency range remains constant, so there is no syncopation within it unlike music. Although white noise generators can be bought privately to treat tinnitus I don’t advise anyone to do so, unless a Hearing Therapist/Audiologist has first tested their auditory system for suitability. A person must also be shown how to use these devices correctly as improper use can make the tinnitus worse. Furthermore, they are normally used in conjunction with tinnitus retraining therapy to get maximum benefit.

 

I work from home and spent most of my time on phone meetings. At some point (before T) I switched to a good pair of stereo headphones, and at this point have been using them for probably 6-7 years. I never listen to music, just people talking at normal volumes.

Before my loud noise incident I never had issues with ears and never experienced T. At this point I am trying to do everything possible to make sure my T does not get worse.

What I don't understand is this. I never engaged or engage in activities that can cause hearing loss or T. Now that I do have T as the result of an incident, can I continue to engage in same activities as before without making my T worse?

PS. I will probably stop using headphones anyway, but still want to understand this.

 

good! headphones/earbuds are bad for your ears. I wish I knew this earlier..

 

Hello all,
I've had a ringing sensation in my ears ever since allergy season began in the beginning of fall and my ringing has seemed to become better or less noticeable ever since. All of a sudden, I've listened to my headphones at half volume for an hour, which I've listened to for months on end before and after I got tinnitus, and now I'm having a tinnitus spike. The noise has seemed to go down from when it first originally started but it still seems louder than before. The noise only increased in my left ear and not my right. Can this be the cause of my brain now constantly searching for tinnitus and hearing it more or is it permanent damage that won't go away?
(Also my ears have been popping/crackling all day and I was diagnosed with ETD about a week ago. )

 

What do you guys think of these? I am still looking for good alternative to headphones since I spend so much time with them for work

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/speakers/portable_speakers/soundwear-companion.html

 

I think those are a nice alternative! You should be able to keep the music volume low, which will be good for your ears and good for not annoying your coworkers.

Probably a better alternative to a speaker at your desk, too, since you can keep the music lower yet hear it.

 

Just been reading up on them and look great and about £300 .00
Love glynis

 

@Dmitriy
I notice that you have suffered noise exposure from a Gunshot and are new to tinnitus? If you also have hyperacusis, I think you should leave those Bose speakers alone until you habituate. It all depends how loud your tinnitus and hyperacusis is? I know these speakers are not playing directly into the ear. However, the thing about "noise trauma" causing tinnitus and hyperacusis, the auditory system is very sensitive and this needs time to heal. Your choice but if It were me I'd leave it a while. People that have tinnitus not caused by noise trauma will not usually be adversely affected.

Michael

 

Perhaps use the Bose wearable speakers to play white noise. There are many free white noise apps available. Find something that works for you (ocean waves, crickets, rain, etc.) and set the volume below your tinnitus.

I switch between music and white noise throughout the day. I use bluetooth speakers, but the Bose device you found would be more convenient and would allow me to keep the volume very low yet still hear it.