Tinnitus Ramps Up in Hearing Protection

[in_the_shadows]

Does anyone else experience a significant increase in tinnitus loudness and the number of tones when using hearing protection?

Whenever I wear earmuffs, I notice dozens of tones that gradually grow louder over time. The volume keeps increasing indefinitely until it becomes unbearable, almost as if my brain is stuck in a loop.

Has anyone encountered something similar?

 

[withintention]

When you reduce external sounds like that, your tinnitus can seem much louder. I've been using the new Apple AirPods for hearing protection whenever possible. They provide hearing protection with audio pass-through, which limits the number of decibels reaching your ears while still allowing you to hear external sounds. This helps prevent your tinnitus from sounding as loud.

 

[Jupiterman]

Yeah, this is normal.

As you brain isn't hearing external noises, it amplifies/focusses on the internal noise.

It's one of the reasons why some argue that ear protection is bad for tinnitus.

However, if you don't protect your ears from levels of noise, it can cause further damage and worsen your tinnitus.