Over Ear Headphones and Early Stage Tinnitus

[Bambam0]

Hi everyone just a quick question.

I am still and will probably always be unsure exactly what has caused my tinnitus but I want to take uber good care of my ears especially in this early stage...

Would it make sense to wear over ear noise cancelling headphones when out and about even if I am not playing music into them? ie taking bus to work, at gym, ect.

I know I've read earbuds are not good for your ear canals, even if they're not playing music but I have read mixed reviews about noise cancelling technology as well. Any other recommendations about what to do early on with tinnitus would be helpful. Thanks, Bam Bam.

 

[GregCA]

Hi everyone just a quick question.

I am still and will probably always be unsure exactly what has caused my tinnitus but I want to take uber good care of my ears especially in this early stage...

Would it make sense to wear over ear noise cancelling headphones when out and about even if I am not playing music into them? ie taking bus to work, at gym, ect.

I know I've read earbuds are not good for your ear canals, even if they're not playing music but I have read mixed reviews about noise cancelling technology as well. Any other recommendations about what to do early on with tinnitus would be helpful. Thanks, Bam Bam.

What is your goal? Cancel noises around? If so you can just carry ear plugs if you know you're going to be in a loud environment. For unexpected sounds that seem too loud, you can always use your fingers to plug your ears.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Hi everyone just a quick question.

I am still and will probably always be unsure exactly what has caused my tinnitus but I want to take uber good care of my ears especially in this early stage...

Would it make sense to wear over ear noise cancelling headphones when out and about even if I am not playing music into them? ie taking bus to work, at gym, ect.

I know I've read earbuds are not good for your ear canals, even if they're not playing music but I have read mixed reviews about noise cancelling technology as well. Any other recommendations about what to do early on with tinnitus would be helpful. Thanks, Bam Bam.

The further away you can keep from anything called "Headphones, earbuds, sleephones" the better off you will be. Please go to my started threads, and read my post: Headphones and tinnitus. My article: Tinnitus, A Personal View, is there too.

Michael

 

[Bambam0]

What is your goal? Cancel noises around? If so you can just carry ear plugs if you know you're going to be in a loud environment. For unexpected sounds that seem too loud, you can always use your fingers to plug your ears.

Yes the goal is to cancel noises around me. Rather than wear earplugs everyday, I guess what I'm asking is would noise cancelling headphones work even if I am not playing music out of them?

 

[Bambam0]

The further away you can keep from anything called "Headphones, earbuds, sleephones" the better off you will be. Please go to my started threads, and read my post: Headphones and tinnitus. My article: Tinnitus, A Personal View, is there too.

Michael

Thanks for this, a great read indeed. However I didn't see anything about using headphones as a masking device. The plan would be to not play music out of them.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Yes the goal is to cancel noises around me. Rather than wear earplugs everyday, I guess what I'm asking is would noise cancelling headphones work even if I am not playing music out of them?

Yes, noise canceling headphones cancel noise even when they are not playing music or white noise. At least the Bose pair that I own do. I use them when flying and as a passenger on very long car trips.

You will find some posters are adamantly against any headphone use, yet overlook that technology has improved significantly in the past 20 years. Some headphones can be as quiet as wearable white noise generators, and some headphones have volume limiting technology that prohibits sounds from going above 85 dB.

It sounds as if you intend to use them similar to ear muffs.

 

[Michael Leigh]

Thanks for this, a great read indeed. However I didn't see anything about using headphones as a masking device. The plan would be to not play music out of them.

I cannot see the benefit of wearing noise cancelling headphones. If your intention is to reduce outside sounds then this is not a good idea as you will make your tinnitus worse, in my opinion. Tinnitus should not be masked so it can't be heard, as the brain cannot habituate to tinnitus unless it can hear it slightly above sound enrichment. You are new to tinnitus so please read:Tinnitus, A Personal view in full. Also read: Hyperacusis, As I see it. You will find it on my "started threads".

Michael

 

[GregCA]

Yes the goal is to cancel noises around me. Rather than wear earplugs everyday, I guess what I'm asking is would noise cancelling headphones work even if I am not playing music out of them?

They work, but perhaps not as well as ear plugs or ear muffs for that purpose I'm afraid. Wearing ear plugs every day could make your situation worse by overprotecting your hearing.

You should really talk to a doctor to try to root cause your T and determine a path forward.

 

[Bambam0]

They work, but perhaps not as well as ear plugs or ear muffs for that purpose I'm afraid. Wearing ear plugs every day could make your situation worse by overprotecting your hearing.

You should really talk to a doctor to try to root cause your T and determine a path forward.

Yea the idea is to not wear earplugs everywhere I go and rather to wear something that blends in a little bit more - like headphones.

Your last sentence is right on. The Drs i've seen - all think its TMJ related but in the case that it is not I just wanted to protect my ears and was thinking that by using over ear head phones as ear muffs it would help better than nothing.

 

[AZeurotuner]

Yes, noise canceling headphones cancel noise even when they are not playing music or white noise. At least the Bose pair that I own do. I use them when flying and as a passenger on very long car trips.

You will find some posters are adamantly against any headphone use, yet overlook that technology has improved significantly in the past 20 years. Some headphones can be as quiet as wearable white noise generators, and some headphones have volume limiting technology that prohibits sounds from going above 85 dB.

It sounds as if you intend to use them similar to ear muffs.

I think the danger in headphone use lies in fact that sometimes we have accidents. A lot of folks use their phones to play music, if you slip up and forget to turn to volume down even once you could get blasted pretty badly. I did this yesterday (not wearing headphones) on YouTube, usually I'm good about but every once and a while I forget.

The solution as you mentioned would be noise restricting headphones, but all the models I've seen are cheap, low sound quality designs meant for children. The other solution would be a dedicated mp3 player, set the sound low and leave it there, unlike a phone, which we tend to raise the volume for online videos and such and forget to turn it back down.

 

[Bambam0]

I cannot see the benefit of wearing noise cancelling headphones. If your intention is to reduce outside sounds then this is not a good idea as you will make your tinnitus worse, in my opinion. Tinnitus should not be masked so it can't be heard, as the brain cannot habituate to tinnitus unless it can hear it slightly above sound enrichment. You are new to tinnitus so please read:Tinnitus, A Personal view in full. Also read: Hyperacusis, As I see it. You will find it on my "started threads".

Michael

even as earmuffs you see no benefit?

 

[Bambam0]

I think the danger in headphone use lies in fact that sometimes we have accidents. A lot of folks use their phones to play music, if you slip up and forget to turn to volume down even once you could get blasted pretty badly. I did this yesterday (not wearing headphones) on YouTube, usually I'm good about but every once and a while I forget.

The solution as you mentioned would be noise restricting headphones, but all the models I've seen are cheap, low sound quality designs meant for children. The other solution would be a dedicated mp3 player, set the sound low and leave it there, unlike a phone, which we tend to raise the volume for online videos and such and forget to turn it back down.

What if I literally never played music out of them. Didn't connect, just flipped on "noice cancelling" or maybe even not and used them as protection?

 

[GregCA]

The Drs i've seen - all think its TMJ related but in the case that it is not I just wanted to protect my ears and was thinking that by using over ear head phones as ear muffs it would help better than nothing.

Did you do a hearing test? If yes, and you feel comfortable, can you post your audiogram?

 

[Bambam0]

Did you do a hearing test? If yes, and you feel comfortable, can you post your audiogram?

I did, it was normal. Why do you ask?

 

[GregCA]

I did, it was normal. Why do you ask?

Because it can reveal a lot of things... many people (including doctors) miss clues in there. My original doctors glossed over the missing stapedial reflexes in my right ear. That's one of the reasons they got fooled by a red herring and believed I had SSNHL instead of trying to get more clues to establish middle ear issues (such as otosclerosis).

 

[Bambam0]

Because it can reveal a lot of things... many people (including doctors) miss clues in there. My original doctors glossed over the missing stapedial reflexes in my right ear. That's one of the reasons they got fooled by a red herring and believed I had SSNHL instead of trying to get more clues to establish middle ear issues (such as otosclerosis).

And you know how to read those bad boys?

 

[AZeurotuner]

What if I literally never played music out of them. Didn't connect, just flipped on "noice cancelling" or maybe even not and used them as protection?

It's up to you whether or not you use them for music. If you do you, make sure you're really careful, set the volume pretty low and leave it there. I don't bother taking the risk because I feel more comfortable listening to music on my home theater speakers at a moderate level, than quietly on headphones anyways. Most of us have things that we are willing to risk our hearing for, for me personally headphones aren't one of them.

 

[GregCA]

And you know how to read those bad boys?

Sure, it's not that hard (I'm not a doctor though).