- Mar 12, 2019
- 253
- Tinnitus Since
- 02/2019
- Cause of Tinnitus
- Unknown. Sudden loss of 100% hearing R ear with Tinnitus
For the record, my tinnitus is not noise induced. It was caused by SSNHL (Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss), so my situation may be different than yours if your tinnitus was caused by excess noise damage. I have 100% loss of hearing in my right ear with significant tinnitus.
I have been experimenting with the use of noise cancelling headphones as a means to get some relief. Though my right ear is 100% deaf, the ambient sound waves entering my good ear has a major impact on the intensity of my tinnitus. At first I would simply put a foam earplug in my good ear to block the ambient sound waves. This did help, but I don't like the feeling of now both ears being "plugged" and I also could not hear people talk very well with the foam plugs in. I went out and purchased a high quality set of noise cancelling headphones to give them a try. There are a few good brands out there. I chose the Sony WH1000XM3.
I have been using them for about a week now, and I like them. Again, ambient sound waves entering the good ear is the problem. What the headphones do is electronically mask the nasty sound waves and allow a lot of the good ones to still be heard (not sure how they do that), but the end result is while wearing my headphones with the noise cancelling activated, my tinnitus is reduced and remains at a lower steady level instead of jumping all over the place as ambient sound waves enter my good ear. It is definitely more tolerable. Another side effect that comes with doing this is that by having headphones on both ears, my brain is actually tricked into thinking that the remaining tinnitus noise that I am left with is coming in through the right side of the headphones (my deaf side) instead of originating inside of my head (where it actually is). Thus, from a mental state it is easier to live with.
So, this is my little success story. It's not much, but anything I can do to find a place where I can get some kind of relief (even if it's just a little bit) is something positive I can look forward to. I am convinced that part of my cure going forward is to be able to look ahead positively. And this is just one little step in that direction, along with an assortment of other little steps.
BTW, the headset I got has Bluetooth so you can use it to watch TV or listen to whatever as long as it has a Bluetooth connection. I am very careful to not listen to music or TV very loudly. Last thing I want to do is damage my good ear. I have found though, that the sound waves coming from the TV speakers naked into my good ear are more bothersome than the sound waves emitting from the headset if I am using them for listening to something like TV or iPad. I purchased them at a big box electronic store (Best Buy) and they have a two week window where you can just return them if you don't like them, which gives plenty of time to decide if they are any help. I will be keeping mine. The top of the line headsets are around $350.
I have been experimenting with the use of noise cancelling headphones as a means to get some relief. Though my right ear is 100% deaf, the ambient sound waves entering my good ear has a major impact on the intensity of my tinnitus. At first I would simply put a foam earplug in my good ear to block the ambient sound waves. This did help, but I don't like the feeling of now both ears being "plugged" and I also could not hear people talk very well with the foam plugs in. I went out and purchased a high quality set of noise cancelling headphones to give them a try. There are a few good brands out there. I chose the Sony WH1000XM3.
I have been using them for about a week now, and I like them. Again, ambient sound waves entering the good ear is the problem. What the headphones do is electronically mask the nasty sound waves and allow a lot of the good ones to still be heard (not sure how they do that), but the end result is while wearing my headphones with the noise cancelling activated, my tinnitus is reduced and remains at a lower steady level instead of jumping all over the place as ambient sound waves enter my good ear. It is definitely more tolerable. Another side effect that comes with doing this is that by having headphones on both ears, my brain is actually tricked into thinking that the remaining tinnitus noise that I am left with is coming in through the right side of the headphones (my deaf side) instead of originating inside of my head (where it actually is). Thus, from a mental state it is easier to live with.
So, this is my little success story. It's not much, but anything I can do to find a place where I can get some kind of relief (even if it's just a little bit) is something positive I can look forward to. I am convinced that part of my cure going forward is to be able to look ahead positively. And this is just one little step in that direction, along with an assortment of other little steps.
BTW, the headset I got has Bluetooth so you can use it to watch TV or listen to whatever as long as it has a Bluetooth connection. I am very careful to not listen to music or TV very loudly. Last thing I want to do is damage my good ear. I have found though, that the sound waves coming from the TV speakers naked into my good ear are more bothersome than the sound waves emitting from the headset if I am using them for listening to something like TV or iPad. I purchased them at a big box electronic store (Best Buy) and they have a two week window where you can just return them if you don't like them, which gives plenty of time to decide if they are any help. I will be keeping mine. The top of the line headsets are around $350.
Anyhoo, I am a recreational pilot with a PPL, INT, and COMM, ratings. I fly my own 59 C-172 with 180hp upgrade. 
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