I got tinnitus after COVID, had it for about a year or so now, it seems to get better or worse on its own and doesn't really have any pattern to it.
I will say that when using ANC it bothers me much more if nothing is playing.
AirPods causing tinnitus?
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Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#92I developed tinnitus about 6 months ago and I’ve been using AirPods for 1 year before that. But not with noise cancelling. Independent research will need to be done on this.
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have had tinnitus for years, and have never felt comfortable with noise cancelling headphones. Purely anecdotal, of course, and even regular headphones are uncomfortable after awhile, but active noise cancellation is unbearable for me
I wonder how much of this is causing tinnitus, vs the total silence revealing (or intensifying) tinnitus
Yeah I feel like the total silence causes me to focus on the ringing, which raises the intensity -- I think it's a mental thing.
Whenever I use noise cancelling headphones (or really any headphones), I always have something playing even at a really low volume to drown out the tinnitus.
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#94Tinnitus is also a post-covid symptom. They could be looking at the wrong culprit.
At this point is every health irregularity a covid symptom?
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have worn mx4s for 4 years in my home office for over 10 each day with noise cancelling. No issues.
Simular situation. For the mx4's they sound so much better when ANC is turned on rather than off imo. Especially the bass/lower frequencies.
I agree with that, they sound great... The tinnitus doesnt.
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#96Hearing loss is very serious. You know your body better than anyone else so don't be afraid to be its biggest advocate and protector. Nobody else will. I once had tinnitus for a week after a concert and it was one of the worst weeks of my life, it felt like it would last forever (and for some people, it does). I had pristine, "golden ears" for audio engineering and was afraid about how much I'd be able to recover. I…
Yeah it can’t be stressed enough, if you go to live events, get concert earplugs and wear them religiously. You hear the music better anyway. It’s been sad to see friends fail to heed this advice. You don’t want to be that person who needs hearing aids at age 50 due to something you could have prevented with a little forethought. Etymotic are great and were my standby for years. Recently upgraded to Earasers on the r…
+1 for etymotic also. Really great stuff. I had customs when I worked in PA but now ER-15s suffice just fine.
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#97[flagged]
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Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#98Lifelong tinnitus sufferer here. The prevailing theory (edit: this is misleading, it is not the “prevailing theory”, I typed that without thinking. It is actually a new-ish/fringe-ish alternative to the actual prevailing theory of accumulated damage to ear fibers):
The theory I subscribe to is that tinnitus is a breakdown of the ears’ and/or brain’s noise filtering and suppression mechanisms. Long-term use of white noise makes tinnitus worse, which is a particularly cruel irony since white noise also provides short term relief from tinnitus. Active noise cancelling likely shares enough properties with white noise to cause the same effect.
Some users of noise cancellation are reporting another experience, that a sudden loud noise is perceived as extraordinarily and painfully loud, to the point that even a single incident can have long-lasting effects. This is called hyperacusis, and it is highly co-prevalent with tinnitus. Essentially, every loud noise you’ve ever heard has been pre-dampened by your ears/brain’s natural noise suppression mechanisms, and in hyperacusis sometimes this dampening isn’t applied and you get the full force of the noise - meaning that noise is literally the loudest thing you’ve ever experienced (even though it is not the highest decibels you’ve ever been exposed to).
Interestingly, one treatment for tinnitus and hyperacusis I’ve had success with is listening to audio with significant instantaneous jumps and dips in volume and frequency. The suggested mechanism of action is you’re stressing your natural noise suppression and it strengthens itself in response. Similar principle to weightlifting to stress your muscles so they grow stronger in response. Perhaps active noise cancellation is causing these problems because it’s relieving the usual stresses placed on the mechanisms and thus they are atrophying.
I avoid active noise cancellation and white noise. I have found passive noise cancellation works well - ear plugs and ear muffs, basically. They have their own drawbacks as they will affect different frequencies differently, with usual speech frequencies often being the most suppressed. Thankfully, Etymotic Research (an absolutely incredible auditory-health-first audio gear company) has the excellent ER20XS and EtyPlugs designed to reduce all frequencies equally. I can’t speak highly enough of them and how much they’ve helped me with my auditory issues. https://www.etymotic.com/product/er20xs/
Most unfortunately, it seems tinnitus is highly responsive to attention: the more attention you pay to it, the worse it gets. Obsessive researching and reading about your tinnitus can and will make it worse. Sorry. Believe me I know it sucks.
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#99The man reason I used ACN is to block the sounds and disruptions from a noisy open office floorpan at work. I wish more firms would consider giving knowledge workers their own small offices if they’re going to mandate regularly visiting an office.
Re: AirPods causing tinnitus?
#100I wonder if a reduced noise level makes existing tinnitus more noticeable.
I noticed some mild tinnitus I must have already had when I first tried out the ANC. It didn't take me long to acclimate and stop noticing it, but it was pretty noticeable at first