Thoughts from Veteran Tinnitus Sufferers About Ventilation Fans at Work?

[gingereno]

Hello!

I'm curious if anyone has experience or insights about workplace ventilation and whether it could affect someone's already established tinnitus, particularly in a lasting way.

I recently started a new job as a front counter sales associate at a parts store. The environment is quiet, but I've been wondering about the ventilation system.

It's not loud. It's more of a low rumble than anything else and nothing like my tinnitus, which is high pitched. However, I'm concerned that it might be making my tinnitus worse.

I started experiencing tinnitus spikes shortly after starting the job, but there are a few other things to consider. I have OCD and tend to be on alert for flare up triggers, so I might be imagining the spike. I'm also recovering from an illness, which could be playing a role. I've been stressed from the job search, but no more than I have been in the past, and I didn't have spikes before this job. I'm also a bit more sleep deprived, though not drastically.

It's been two days and now on my third, I feel like my tinnitus is getting worse. I use the time it takes me to fall asleep as a baseline, and it's been harder. I'm struggling to determine whether the cause is the constant but quiet low rumbling of the ventilation system or one of these other factors, including the possibility that my OCD is making me fixate on it unnecessarily.

Any insights or advice?

Thanks!

 

[gingereno]

EDIT: I should clarify that by "veteran," I mean anyone who has had tinnitus for a long time, not actual war veterans. Apologies for any confusion.

 

[ploughna]

I've recently had to deal with this situation—I have reactive tinnitus that worsens with continuous ambient noise. For example, when I'm driving or on a plane, I need to use earplugs. However, this creates the opposite problem, as the noise isolation also causes my tinnitus to ramp up. It's basically a "damned if I do, damned if I don't" scenario, but out of an abundance of caution to prevent further hearing damage, I choose to wear earplugs. This usually allows my tinnitus to revert to baseline within hours or, at most, by the next day.

And before anyone says (as both my ENT and audiologist did) that road noise cannot damage hearing, that may be true for healthy ears. However, with prior damage, all bets are off—that's exactly what caused my tinnitus to escalate from moderate to reactive and severe.

Back on topic, though—I recently had to move to a different part of our office where the HVAC system was noticeably louder, causing my tinnitus to ramp up within a couple of hours. I discussed it with the facilities team, and they were able to adjust the system so that instead of the fans running at 100% continuously, they now activate only when heating is needed—about 30% of the time in total. This made a huge difference, and it's no longer an issue for me.

I was warned that summer may be a different story when the AC runs at full blast on very hot days, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

 

[Muggumbo]

Ventilation sounds used to make my tinnitus significantly worse, but they never caused any long-term damage. I think, for some of us, certain frequencies just trigger flare-ups. These sounds still occasionally make my tinnitus worse or more noticeable, but not as badly as before.

Unfortunately, ventilation noise is everywhere, so you may have to find ways to manage it. However, if it's not extremely loud, I wouldn't worry about it permanently affecting your tinnitus.

 

[Jupiterman]

What about wearing earplugs that slightly reduce noise levels while at work?