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Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

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Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#11
post #5

I have mild tinnitus and the best advice I've ever read on the internet for it is: Stop reading. Don't look up information about tinnitus. Don't think about it. If you happen to notice it, try to distract yourself immediately. There maybe legitimate hearing damage but for the psychological aspect, the more you think about it the worse it becomes. I think I saw a quora answer somewhere where the doctor said "Nobody co…

This! Said it before here but also consider than right next to each ear drum is a huge artery. When you run you might hear your heart beating in your ears, but generally we totally tune it out. But it is always there.

Once I realised that I could also tune out tinnitus, I did just that - but a big part of that was just not thinking about it/dwelling on it.

Been nearly 20 years now and tinnitus rarely troubles me, in the way it used to really upset and stress me.

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#12
post #8
post #2

Wonder how will they deal with AirPods themselves losing ability to emit frequencies over time, to prevent false positives/negatives. AFIK they continue to replace AirPods after testing them for sound being out of range.

Do the Airpods perform some kind of self-diagnostic to confirm that it can emit needed frequencies for the hearing test? It would be a PR nightmare if Apple was giving diagnoses for hearing loss, when in reality people were being asked to hear a sound that the Airpods could not emit.

Pretty sure they will simply tell you to have a professional hearing test done.

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#13
post #5

I have mild tinnitus and the best advice I've ever read on the internet for it is: Stop reading. Don't look up information about tinnitus. Don't think about it. If you happen to notice it, try to distract yourself immediately. There maybe legitimate hearing damage but for the psychological aspect, the more you think about it the worse it becomes. I think I saw a quora answer somewhere where the doctor said "Nobody co…

Yep, of course I noticed mine as soon as I saw the article title.

Some days it's noticeable on its own, and on rare occasions, it's annoying.

I avoid alcohol, caffeine, heavy sodium, and (when possible) heavy stress, since I've heard those might be contributors.

I also try to avoid really loud noises (but that's impossible where I live in the city right now, and is an almost daily 'adventure').

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#14
post #8
post #2

Wonder how will they deal with AirPods themselves losing ability to emit frequencies over time, to prevent false positives/negatives. AFIK they continue to replace AirPods after testing them for sound being out of range.

Do the Airpods perform some kind of self-diagnostic to confirm that it can emit needed frequencies for the hearing test? It would be a PR nightmare if Apple was giving diagnoses for hearing loss, when in reality people were being asked to hear a sound that the Airpods could not emit.

Anecdotally, it can be a very distressing experience. When I was in elementary school I had a hearing test, and as the test went on I could hear fewer and fewer of the tones. The nurse got increasingly surprised and worried, "really, you can't hear that? what about this one? really?" I was nearly in tears, thinking that I was nearly deaf and somehow didn't know.

Turns out my hearing was fine - the batteries in the hand-held device were nearly dead. (I do have some auditory-processing difficulties, but those were not measured by this test.)

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#15
Mine started in one ear after a problem while ascending during a scuba dive. Something remained different in the region around my ear afterward.

Then COVID did some sh*t to my sinuses which left them changed.

Now I have relatively low tinnitus in one ear and very noticeable tinnitus in the other ear. The pitch is high... reminiscent to the squeal that an old CRT or tube TV would make if it had no signal.

The tinnitus is some function of my blood circulation, because I can clearly hear my pulse in the worst ear... just this constant pulsing squeal. On occasion it is so loud that I wonder if my head is about to blow open. Blood pressure is good when tested though.

Who knows... that's all so complex and interconnected, and then there's the possibility that some of it is imagined or phantom.

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#16
post #2

Wonder how will they deal with AirPods themselves losing ability to emit frequencies over time, to prevent false positives/negatives. AFIK they continue to replace AirPods after testing them for sound being out of range.

This sounds like it's caused by "naturally" accumulated gunk over time

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#18

the newer generations of AirPods absolutely trigger tinnitus for me. The gen 1 AirPod Pros are the best. I really have to crank the volume to trigger it. The Gen 2 AirPod Pros are the worst. Even low volumes rip apart my ears. Constant ringing all of the time. The USB-C Airpod Pros Gen 2 are ok at low to mid volumes, can't use them at high volumes what so ever though, they also let in a terrible amount of wind noise…

There have been theories about ANC headphones, earphones, and in-ear-monitors causing tinnitus over the years, but nothing concrete with evidence.

There are also theories that they will prevent tinnitus because one can play music at a lower volume and still enjoy it.

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#19

the newer generations of AirPods absolutely trigger tinnitus for me. The gen 1 AirPod Pros are the best. I really have to crank the volume to trigger it. The Gen 2 AirPod Pros are the worst. Even low volumes rip apart my ears. Constant ringing all of the time. The USB-C Airpod Pros Gen 2 are ok at low to mid volumes, can't use them at high volumes what so ever though, they also let in a terrible amount of wind noise…

There have been theories about ANC headphones, earphones, and in-ear-monitors causing tinnitus over the years, but nothing concrete with evidence.

The burden of evidence should be on the side who wants us to put their electromagnetic devices in our body-cavities.

To put it less bluntly: even if there is no evidence of harm, one can rationally decide to avoid these products out of caution.

Re: Apple Hearing Study shares preliminary insights on tinnitus

#20

Mine started in one ear after a problem while ascending during a scuba dive. Something remained different in the region around my ear afterward. Then COVID did some sh*t to my sinuses which left them changed. Now I have relatively low tinnitus in one ear and very noticeable tinnitus in the other ear. The pitch is high... reminiscent to the squeal that an old CRT or tube TV would make if it had no signal. The tinnitus…

im familiar with this kind of tinnitus (and many others), what happens if you try a good sinus decongestant?
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