My Tinnitus Spikes from Online Meetings (Not Wearing Headset)

Hi all.

I just started a new job. I work from home and have many online meetings.

As I am not using a headset but only the sound from the computer, I thought I would be safe but after a day with 3 long-ish meetings, my tinnitus is spiking like never before.

I am in tears at the prospect of having to give up my new job where I am kindly allowed to work from home.

Do any of you have experience with tinnitus spiking from online meetings - even without wearing a headset?

All advice would be much appreciated as I am despairing over the situation.

 

@Juliane, I doubt working on Zoom calls via your computer at home would cause your tinnitus to spike.

Are you sitting straight and not bending your head downward? I noticed you have had tinnitus almost as long as I have! Sigh. I understand the tears though.

Maybe just watch your posture during the meetings and stretch your neck muscles more often?

Hope you are doing okay.

 

I am feeling really depressed. I honestly don't think I can manage working at the moment. I have to accept that tinnitus most likely will cost me my career. I am considering how to do this the right way.

Have any of you given up working due to tinnitus? How do you survive? I might end in that situation very soon. Please advise.

 

I'm so sorry to hear you're having trouble with online meetings. Have you considered muting the sound and relying entirely on captions to follow along? I don't know if it is possible to do that on all online platforms, but it is doable on Zoom, even in live meetings. I'd say the automated captions are better than 95% accurate, so it's easy to understand what's being said, even if it gets the occasional word wrong.

 

I am in a very similar situation. I work from home but the Zoom calls are making my reactive tinnitus worse.

The laptop fan whirring was problem one, so I have the laptop in one room connected to a monitor in the other.

I have now been through 8 Bluetooth speakers to provide a better quality of sound than the tinny output of a laptop speaker.

It isn't perfect, but the quality of my new Bluetooth speaker (Marshall Stanmore II) is better.

Perhaps a better quality of audio may help?

It is still causing me a big problem right now, so I can totally relate to what you are going through - and something people, even with standard tinnitus, just do not understand.

 

Hi @Juliane, sorry to read about this. I have meetings via the laptop, same as you, no headset. I literally feel my ears when people are chatting. Because of this, my tinnitus gets worse. Back to normal the next day. Is yours consistent in volume throughout the day? Would it help to turn the volume down?

 

@Juliane, I personally had to take 3 1/2 months leave of absence from my job because I couldn't cope with my tinnitus when it first began, and work added a lot of stress, plus my reactivity was bonkers, so I couldn't stand the noise that came with working (office + virtual job, but a lot of meetings in person and online).

In the beginning, I thought there was no way I'd be able to resume my career. I remember at that time, I told my wife that she'd likely have to be the bread earner because I didn't think I'd be able to work again.

What was key for me was taking the time off so I could focus on coping with my tinnitus without needing to think about work. A lot of what I needed to deal with was my reaction to my tinnitus. Of course, I also learning ways to reduce my tinnitus symptoms, especially since reactivity was a major component. For my reaction, I took a 6-week group CBT course, which did wonders for me.

After I returned to work, I requested to go fully remote and also asked for a role change that reduced the amount of meetings I needed to attend. I'm fortunate that my workplace accommodated my needs. I was able to slowly adjust back to work as a result. Now that I'm more acclimated to my tinnitus, I'm able to focus again on work. I'd say I'm at nearly the same capacity (say, 90%) in terms of work throughput compared to before my tinnitus began.

 

Can you take a long leave of absence from work while you give your ears time to settle?

Do you have a pension that caters for early sickness retirement?

You could try using earplugs, noise reducing earplugs or earplugs which cut out high frequencies only. High frequencies could be the cause of your worsenings from loudspeakers (digital sound).

You could try pointing to loudspeakers away from you and reducing the tone. This may reduce the sharpness of the sound and be more comfortable for your ears?

Perhaps one of your ears is more sensitive than the other, you may only need to plug one ear?

Can you use voice to text software so you can keep your loudspeakers switched off?

 

As someone advised, you can put captions and mute the sound.

Another option is using earplugs. You would still faintly hear what they're saying, but there will be no high-pitched sounds.

Another option is using a Bluetooth speaker. Sound quality is much better and there are no high-pitched distortions.

You don't have to give up your job, just find new accommodations.

 

Thanks a lot for all your helpful suggestions! Much appreciated.

Today I turned down the volume very low during meetings and it did seem to help, as in not spike my tinnitus. Might try the live captions option too.

But then I had a guest after work who speaks very loud and that seems to have spiked it. You just can't win with tinnitus!

Hope you are all having a good week

 

Headphones definitely make my tinnitus spike. Also speaking directly into the laptop wasn't great for me as the fan noise also aggregated my tinnitus.

I use a Jabra speaker which is better than having the laptop in front of me. I have the laptop on the floor, so I don't hear the fan whining and have the Jabra on the table next to the monitor. I use a small USB extension lead. You can easily control the volume with the Jabra. This has been the solution for me.

 

Agreed, I don't use headphones.

Stick with the job, but try to reduce unnecessary meetings.

Give it some time for your ears to adjust, don't push it but also don't do zero exposure. Work from the bottom up, so try a week or so with earplugs, low volume + captions. Then try no earplugs, with very low volume + captions, and so on.

Have hope, things will get better.

Wishing you all well,
Sam

 

I appreciate all your support but I am despairing day by day. My tinnitus is not improving, in fact it is getting worse.

I am not capable of continuing working. I cannot live the rest of my life with this monster in my head.

I don't know what to do, I am very close to giving up. Life has lost all meaning and I am not strong enough to continue. It is like the forces of the universe want to break me. They are succeeding.

 

But the rest of your life is not today @Juliane. And today is not tomorrow. Hence, you don't know what the future holds.

Looking ahead is difficult when we are down and feel beaten. I've been there, for a long time, and I know the feeling.

But things can change around, and they often do - for most.

 

Thank you, I needed to hear that ❤️

 

Keep going @Juliane. I feel for you as you’re clearly in a lot of despair and I’ve been there myself of late with it all (still am really).

I’m certain things will get better for you. It’s still early days for you, remember habituation can take anything up to two years and your tinnitus may well improve along the way.

 

Get a pair of high quality speakers. The bigger, the better. You want to be able to balance the frequency output so it isn't all high frequency wavelengths.

Powered studio monitors are great. They have amplifiers built in, like most "computer" speakers, but are full range rather than dinky little satellite speakers. All you need is a 1/8 inch-to-split-XLR cable to connect. I use the Kali Audio LP-6 and they work great. They're big though, so you need room on your desk.

Next thing you need to do is remove all echos from your room. Add curtains, rugs, soft furniture, plants, canvas paintings, books and soft nicknacks on your shelves.

Then get an equalizer app for your computer. There are probably a ton for Windows. For Mac there is an app called Boom. Start cutting different frequencies during meetings and see what feels better. I'm willing to bet it's higher frequencies.

For a reference on the size of these speakers, here's the setup from my last apartment:

 

I disagree with the advice that "the bigger, the better" with regard loudspeakers. When I was at my worst, a large speaker just needed to powered on and it affected my ears.

And @kingsfan, when you say "high frequency wavelengths," I presume you mean high frequencies?

 

Yep.

 

That is very helpful information @kingsfan, thank you very much!

Your (previous) apartment looks so cosy!