[Methos1979]

I suffer from a significant mid-range hearing loss and tinnitus. The hearing loss is from childhood, probably an illness as a baby, and the tinnitus is no doubt from a combination of too-loud music and concerts as a teen, an explosion in the military in my 20s, and playing in rock bands in my 30s. Like everyone with tinnitus, it's annoying but you just kind of ignore it. Sometimes it 'ramps up' when I'm fighting off an illness like a head cold or fever or something.

Recently, I went on a tear to find a set of IEM's and headphones for a new mp3 player upgrade. I don't think I was listening to music any more than I usually do, although I was listening primarily to a selected list of 'headphone audtioning' songs which was comprised of new stuff and therefore louder and highly compressed. I eventually settled upon the Denon AH-C700 canalphones and bought a pair. I bought and tested several other IEM-type phones too.

This past week I noticed that the ringing went into high gear and there seemed be some blockage also. It took several days of using ear cleaning kits and a trip to the doctor to flush one ear out but now they are clear again. But the ringing remains louder than normal, and it seems to be louder than ever. I don't know if it's because of all the brutal assault with ear cleaning agents and flushing or if it's just left over from all the IEM testing.

I want to say that this has happened once before and it was after a short, but prolonged exposure to IEM use then too. My ears seem to feel that music piped directly into the canals is something bad and they create a lot of wax in an attempt to protect themselves. I don't listen to the music that loudly so I'm wondering if it's just not the pressure itself of soundwaves on the drum created from the seal of IEM's and canalphones. Doctors and audiologist have told me that I have very small, irregularly shaped canals which might also be causal to the hearing issues I have.

I've refrained from using the IEM's since the cleaning and I'm hoping the ringing subsides a bit. Along with the increased ringing is an annoying over-sensitivity to high frequencies. The paging system at work is possitively painful to listen to. I'm using my Bose TriPort AE's to block out those sounds while playing music at medium levels to help mitigate and mask the tinnitus.

Has anyone else out there who suffers from tinnitus pretty bad noticed an increase in sensitivity to sound or their tinnitus specifically related to IEM use? I know there are a lot of tinnitus sufferers here and in the music field in general. I so wish there was a cure for this. If I could have anything granted to me, it would be quiet, no ringing in the ears.

Anyhow, just an observation and wondering if I'm alone in noticing this. I'm thinking for abandoning the IEM's for a while and seeing if it calms down. If it does then I may try them again but be very careful to listen for changes for the worse and if that is the case I'll have to stay with fullsize cans and open air on-ear types that don't create the pressure on the eardrums. Time will tell but I thought it might make a good discussion topic here.

M.

 

[rlanger]

I've never noticed that my tinnitus is aggravated by my iems. However, it is more noticeable when using iems due to the isolation they provide. During quiet passages, there is no ambient noise to mask the ringing, so it's quite noticeable.

I don't think that there's any difference between sound going directly into your ear canal or coming from a source further away. The issue is volume. I believe that iems are quite safe if listened to a moderate volume levels.

When you find a cure for tinnitus please let me know. Thanks.

Rob

 

[zotjen]

Actually, the only way I can listen to music when I'm suffering from tinnitus is with my IEM's. Maybe it has something to do with the driver being so close to my eardrum. If I try to listen with regular cans the music sounds distorted (think transistor radio quality). The same distortion occurs when I place a telephone receiver to my ear.

Note that I can still hear buzzing when using IEM's, but at least the music isn't distorted.

 

[koike]

usually when i listen 'harder'.
meaning i force myself to discern the difference between 2 IEMs. looking for minute details. thats where my tinnitus aggravates.

 

[Joeywhat]

My Tinnitus is aggravated when wearing ear plugs. Not sure why...I've worked in loud environments my entire life, however. So I pretty much expected it. There's only so much that earplugs can do alone.

 

[Methos1979]

I agree that there shouldn't be any difference on the impact for the ear from sound waves themselves, but I do listen at low to moderate volumes also. I'm wondering if the 'pressure' fluctuations from an IEM/canal type phone due to the seal formed don't make the ears, at least mine, secrete the wax because they sense a blockage. Or perhaps just the seal itself because it doesn't allow for the free flow of regular air from the outside. IEM's or canalphones definately cause something to occur in my ear canals. Within minutes my inner ears get 'itchy'. I don't have that problem with around-ear cans or even on-ear phones. I think the 'itchy' feeling is the ears way of getting me to pull the plugs off to stick my finger in there and wiggle it around! And when I ignore the itch and leave them in, it starts creating wax buildup as a protection.

Just a hypothesis. My ears are finally calming down a little. The tinnitus is still there - loud and clear unfortunately - but it seems to be bothering me less.

Thanks for all the ideas and personal experiences though. Regular ear plugs do the same thing to me too like the previous poster said. I guess guys like us just can't use IEM's or canalphones. Good thing they make so many other models!

M.