WiFi and Tinnitus

[Bart]

What does everyone think about the connection between WiFi and tinnitus?

I have been reading about it on Google Scholar, and there seem to be quite a few scientific reports claiming that WiFi and electromagnetic fields may pose health risks.

Several doctors and scientists are warning about the potential dangers of WiFi, including symptoms such as tinnitus and sensations of ear fullness.

Is this just scaremongering, or is it a real threat?

 

[quietatnight]

Bart

Oh Please ! Sorry, But I just don't believe that for a second, I would not loose any sleep over it that's for sure LOL. You should be more concerned about Loud noise's, now that's real.


Louie

 

[Steve]

Well, we had a power cut yesterday for a couple of hours. My tinnitus did not change at all so it doesn't work as a theory for me.

People had tinnitus long before wifi and other such technolog.

If you want to test the theory you could combine it with a holiday and go the USA national radio quiet zone http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Radio_Quiet_Zone

 

[Bart]

Bart

Oh Please ! Sorry, But I just don't believe that for a second, I would not loose any sleep over it that's for sure LOL. You should be more concerned about Loud noise's, now that's real.


Louie

I am sceptical about it myself but than again, there is a huge increase in wireless networks over the past decade and the technology is fairly new, research about the harmfull effects has just begon let alone it's impact on long term exposure.

Keep in mind there was a time when people claimed asbestos, softenon and cigarettes where perfectly fine and could not harm you.

 

[valeri]

I know a person from Melbourne who claims that smart meters are the cause of a number of new illnesses including tinnitus.
There is also a group who is trying to stop their installation in homes.
Relevant articles can be found on internet.

 

[quietatnight]

Bart

Steve made a very good point "People had tinnitus long before wifi and other such technology." And even "IF" RF type technolgies were a problem there's nothing that you could do about it anyway, short of wrapping yourself in tinfoil LOL. WIFI and Cell towers are all around us, we are walking through a wall of RF all of the time 24/7 even when we sleep. NOW,,, I will say that all this constant RF is most likely not good for anyone, tinnitus or not. The big question is "how much RF does it take to mess up any of our cell's in the body and make us sick" ? I can see that being a real problem to worry about. As Valeri mentioned about the smart meters, I can see that. The good news is that Cell phones have a lot less power now then when they first came out. .3 watt verses the Full 3 watts they once had. But there are a lot more phones out there of course now also. I make it a habit to keep moving and not stand in the same position very long, we never know where the nearest cell tower is, that make's a big difference. And you should switch ear's and don't stay on one side of the head for long periods. When My phone starts to get hot, I tell myself "time to get off the phone". It's kind of like a built in timer. But I try and keep my calls as short as I can anyway, or use wired hands free head set's.

Anyway this is how I view it...


Louie

 

[Steve]

On a slightly related note, if I use my phone on my ear I get a fullness and the tinnitus gets worse. I now always use it on speaker or with earphones.

 

[Andrew]

Funnily enough before I started having tinnitus, I did sleep with my iPad on the pillow next to me every day for 4 years.....a device constantly receiving a Wi-Fi signal.

It would be an unconventional reason for my tinnitus but so far it could be as good a reason as any!

 

[dboy]

On a slightly related note, if I use my phone on my ear I get a fullness and the tinnitus gets worse. I now always use it on speaker or with earphones.

That sounds like a worrying indication of potential harm. If using a phone can do this then the constant lower level exposure we get all day every day may also have some kind of effect (I guess).

 

[Silvio Sabo]

On a slightly related note, if I use my phone on my ear I get a fullness and the tinnitus gets worse. I now always use it on speaker or with earphones.

When I use the phone I always hold it against my left ear. However my right ear is the one where my T is the worst. I see no connection there. At least not for me.

 

[Starlord]

I don't believe that wifi can cause tinnitus, but i have noticed that it can spike my tinnitus. When I'm around my house or in parts of my room where the router is at I don't get affected. But once I sit at my desk where the router is at my tinnitus spikes because I can hear a low volume high frequency sound being emitted. I tested it by bringing my ear close to the router and I could hear it, then once I unplugged the router the frequency was gone. And I can tell the difference between a device being on due to the electricity running it versus it emitting a frequency.

 

[Reinier]

And I can tell the difference between a device being on due to the electricity running it versus it emitting a frequency.

Most likely what you hear is the Switch Mode Power Supply.
Most electronic equipment nowadays use SMPS.

 

[Starlord]

Most likely what you hear is the Switch Mode Power Supply.
Most electronic equipment nowadays use SMPS.

Not sure what is meant by switch mode, but I have an Xbox one and it has that huge power supply brick also. I can hear that it is on but that power supply does not affect my T at all. The wifi router does. I also noticed that my wifi light bulbs by Philips Hue also affected my T. So sadly I screwed them out of their sockets, for now at least.

 

[Reinier]

Not sure what is meant by switch mode

These power supplies switch on and of at a high frequency. This is how they regulate the output Voltage. This on and off switching is what you sometimes hear. You are not able to hear all SMPS. This depends on different properties (quality, switching frequency and more) of the SMPS.
You sometimes can also hear old fashioned linear power supplies (heavier transformers supplies). But they will hum. (50 or 60 Hz).
It is unlikely the WIFI signal is influencing anything in our brains/hearing. I will not say impossible because there are people that are convinced RF signals (WIFI is RF) can influence brains. I can understand this if the RF power is strong enough, but not with WIFI.
WIFI is a very low power signal. Much, much lower power that of a cell phone.
So most likely your Xbox uses a linear power supply and the router uses and SMPS.
This could be an explain why the Xbox does not influence your tinnitus and the router does.

 

[Sound Wave]

Total rubbish. WiFi does not cause or affect tinnitus.

 

[NineNails]

@Sound Wave ,

How can you tell?

In 1971, ALOHAnet connected the Hawaiian Islands with a UHF wireless packet network. ALOHAnet and the ALOHA protocol were early forerunners to Ethernet, and later the IEEE 802.11 protocols, respectively.

A 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission released theISM band for unlicensed use.[3] These frequency bands are the same ones used by equipment such as microwave ovens and are subject to interference.

What happens when we put you in a microwave oven?

 

[Reinier]

A UHF packet network can put out a high amount of RF energy.
Our home WIFI network does not. Only milliwatts.

 

[Mario martz]

I don't believe that wifi can cause tinnitus, but i have noticed that it can spike my tinnitus. When I'm around my house or in parts of my room where the router is at I don't get affected. But once I sit at my desk where the router is at my tinnitus spikes because I can hear a low volume high frequency sound being emitted. I tested it by bringing my ear close to the router and I could hear it, then once I unplugged the router the frequency was gone. And I can tell the difference between a device being on due to the electricity running it versus it emitting a frequency.

Thats quite interesting, the only place i can hear my ear ringing louder is in my desk where router is...
weird.

 

[Steve]

Thats quite interesting, the only place i can hear my ear ringing louder is in my desk where router is...
weird.

I actually got a lot worse many years ago because of a router - nothing to do with wifi though.

It made a horrible, high pitched noise that only I could hear, was in my office and couldn't get away from it. My left ear worsened with the constant noise exposure.

 

[John G]

Could be just my imagination though. When using my cellphone browsing online on wifi. My T spikes for a second when clicking to view a different page. Strange

 

[Mario martz]

I actually got a lot worse many years ago because of a router - nothing to do with wifi though.

It made a horrible, high pitched noise that only I could hear, was in my office and couldn't get away from it. My left ear worsened with the constant noise exposure.

Damn! ill try to keep away from the router!

 

[Sound Wave]

This pic pretty much sums this discussion up

 

[NineNails]

@Sound Wave ,

Where are the experiments that prove that RF do not cause or worsen T?

See, there are none. Thus they assume that RF is safe. And especially for it's huge money business. Oil. Anybody?

 

[Reinier]

Thus they assume that RF is safe.

RF is not per see safe.
It is about power and frequency (mHz/Ghz).
You don't want to stand in front of a radar. It will heat you up (microwave oven principle) and damage cells.
I am not worried about a couple of 100 milliWatts of RF power from my WIFI.
You can not investigate everything. Some thing you can theorise.

 

[Sound Wave]

Where are the experiments that prove that RF do not cause or worsen T?

Where are the experiments that sun rays don't cause or worsen T?

 

[Steve]

Damn! ill try to keep away from the router!

Well, it wasn't the router so much as the noise it made. I find that continued exposure to any noise will make my tinnitus worse - one of the reasons using white noise is no use to me.

I have the same thing with CRT TV's, thankfully you don't get them any more. I could hear on some of them (usually old or cheaper models) a horrible high-pitched whine that would drive me crazy.

 

[Rosie_Rose]

A friend of mine didn't believe me when I told him I can hear if someone's TV or computer monitor were on if I was standing outside a house. So.....I stood out by the road and he flipped his TV on and off (no volume). I was correct 100% of the time when I told him the off or on state of the appliance.
I'm not saying that WiFi, TV's, etc. cause tinnitus but they certainly add additional noise to what is already in my head.

 

[linearb]

A friend of mine didn't believe me when I told him I can hear if someone's TV or computer monitor were on if I was standing outside a house. So.....I stood out by the road and he flipped his TV on and off (no volume). I was correct 100% of the time when I told him the off or on state of the appliance.
I'm not saying that WiFi, TV's, etc. cause tinnitus but they certainly add additional noise to what is already in my head.

sure, some electronics emit lots of high frequency noise. I remember this same thing with the CRT monitor on the Apple IIe I had in the late 80s. It's not an EMF/wifi thing, it's just HF noise, which can certainly be grating to some people, including some people with tinnitus. I also find that the more attention I am paying to my tinnitus, the more easily I can hear and focus on the various HF noises from electronics.

There's certainly some evidence that EMFs at the level we're routinely exposed to them can have some effects on cellular function. Trying to connect this to tinnitus based on the current data, is an amazing overreach. It's also worth noting that descriptions of tinnitus appear in ancient texts from thousands of years ago.

 

[NineNails]

worth noting that descriptions of tinnitus appear in ancient texts from thousands of years ago.

They had WiFi back then?

 

[linearb]

They had WiFi back then?

Obviously not, that's why I pointed it out.