New Job Involves Phone Calls and the Use of a Bilateral Headset

GabyP

GabyP

Member
Author
Aug 15, 2018
26
Tinnitus Since
10 days
Cause of Tinnitus
Suspected earbuds
#1
Hi guys
I posted a while ago at the onset of my tinnitus which was caused by in ear ear buds and apparently reinforced by some jaws/neck issues (according to osteopaths/chiros). I'm lucky as my tinnitus has always been quite mild, although my anxiety and OCD have been making it hard to manage.

Now, I'm even afraid to ask this question. I've got a new job which involves a lot of talking over the phone, through an over the ears, bilateral headset.

I have been reading the threads on here discouraging the use of headphones which has sent my anxiety skyrocketing.
I am planning on wearing foam earplugs while on the job and was wondering if that would make a difference at all or if I'm basically screwed. This is not a call centre, phone use is only one aspect of the job, but one I would have to work with everyday, for at least an hour a day.

Do you think the use of foam plugs underneath the headset would at least mitigate the damage?

Thanks for reading and for any replies.
 
#2
Hi there, I know how you feel, I got T like 2 days before I got my job and I couldn't pass it down.

I can't speak for everyone.I work as radio dispatch for Transit police, this involved a lot of talking on the radio+ talking on the phone. I myself haven't noticed any impacts regarding T. Keep the volume just so you can hear what people say. If you can, try to get a set of musician ear plugs and that way you can wear them under your headset without any loss of sound quality.

That said, everyone is different. I don't use headphones at home and I don't answer the phone with it up against my ear, until I know how loud it is.
 
#3
just follow the spikes. if using the phone at work constantly spikes your T, then you'll want to stop. And keep the volume low enough to where you can just understand what people are saying.
 
#4
What are you doing, like a call center? I would bail on this job. I would trust using headphones for music over work use. Reason being the only jobs that use them are in the service industry and you are at the mercy of other people not to cause sudden, accidental sounds. And I do not trust other people to not do dumb, destructive things.
 
#5
@PDodge yeah I've seen your posts as well on the topic. Do you think musician earplugs would help even on human voices ? Heard they weren't great for low frequencies....

@Red It's not call centre type, more like B2B. Wouldn't have taken a call centre job but unfortunately can't really pass that opportunity either.

I guess the question is would earplugs make a difference at all ?
Cheers for responding.
 
#6
GabyP said:
Hi guys
I posted a while ago at the onset of my tinnitus which was caused by in ear ear buds and apparently reinforced by some jaws/neck issues (according to osteopaths/chiros). I'm lucky as my tinnitus has always been quite mild, although my anxiety and OCD have been making it hard to manage.

Now, I'm even afraid to ask this question. I've got a new job which involves a lot of talking over the phone, through an over the ears, bilateral headset.

I have been reading the threads on here discouraging the use of headphones which has sent my anxiety skyrocketing.
I am planning on wearing foam earplugs while on the job and was wondering if that would make a difference at all or if I'm basically screwed. This is not a call centre, phone use is only one aspect of the job, but one I would have to work with everyday, for at least an hour a day.

Do you think the use of foam plugs underneath the headset would at least mitigate the damage?

Thanks for reading and for any replies.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend you give a try to noise cancelling headphones: they will allow you to set the volume low (as they cancel the "outside noise") while you do your job.

I don't see the point of putting ear plugs under headphones: just lower the volume. The ear plugs may artificially get you to increase the volume in order to hear what's coming out of the headphones.

There is no need to be anxious about it, just cautious. If you feel something feels weird when you use them, then discontinue.

Good luck!
 
#7
GregCA said:
I'd recommend you give a try to noise cancelling headphones: they will allow you to set the volume low (as they cancel the "outside noise") while you do your job.

I don't see the point of putting ear plugs under headphones: just lower the volume. The ear plugs may artificially get you to increase the volume in order to hear what's coming out of the headphones.

There is no need to be anxious about it, just cautious. If you feel something feels weird when you use them, then discontinue.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

The thing is the headsets are provided by my workplace so I can't really choose what I use.
I was going to use some type of earplugs to mitigate the external noise so as not to have to turn the volume up.
I have to say I was reluctant to post this question, simply because of the unequivocal advice to never use headphones again, especially in cases like mine.
Unfortunately, I still need to make a living and this is already giving me terrible anxiety.
Thank you for your reply @GregCA
 
#8
GabyP said:
The thing is the headsets are provided by my workplace so I can't really choose what I use.
Click to expand...

Do you know that for a fact? I mean that you've actually asked them if you could bring your own headphones and they've told you "no"?
 
#9
GregCA said:
Do you know that for a fact? I mean that you've actually asked them if you could bring your own headphones and they've told you "no"?
Click to expand...

I've not asked them, that's true. They do know about my condition though.
 
#10
GabyP said:
I've not asked them, that's true. They do know about my condition though.
Click to expand...

Unless their headphones are non-standard and cannot be replaced by "off the shelf products", I don't see a reason why they'd force you to use theirs.

Some noise cancelling headphones also have microphones specifically for bidirectional interactions.

I'd give it a shot if I were you.
 
#16
Wear ear protection like earplugs. Foam works for me. I wear foam earplugs when I really have to attend Skype meetings at work. Fortunately for me, these meetings are once a month at most.

The moment you start getting spikes and/or pain, quit that job. Don't wait to a point when you've gotten so bad that you can't do any job at all.
 
#17
#18
Red said:
What are you doing, like a call center? I would bail on this job. I would trust using headphones for music over work use. Reason being the only jobs that use them are in the service industry and you are at the mercy of other people not to cause sudden, accidental sounds. And I do not trust other people to not do dumb, destructive things.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of a conversation I had with a WC lawyer a couple years ago. There was a call center for a very large well known company that had a software issue that would cause a very loud high frequency tone to emit in people's headsets. The lawyer had a handful of clients that had hearing loss and tinnitus from this ongoing issue.
 
#22

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