[Girardian]

Topping this thread - I have this, and have just started listening regularly for longer periods to headphones. 
 
I find my tinnitus more noticeable after listening on headphones (but have never noticed this listening to music via speakers). 
 
I've noticed this more since using "open" headphones (LCD-2s) vs. closed headphones.  I may be increasing the volume slightly in open headphones to block out ambient noise, but not by much.
 
I'm wondering if anyone notes that listening makes this more noticeable or "agitates" tinnitus? 

 

[NA Blur]

I would let your ears heal for another 3 weeks and then start listening to headphones at low volumes.  Otherwise use speakers at moderate to low volumes.  Losing your hearing not what you want so try being a bit more sensitive with your ears.  They are hard to replace.

 

[fubar3]

I have intermittent tinnitus, cause unknown. Music from headphones seems to be a remedy, not a cause.

 

[kingmajix]

I feel the need to chime in whenever I see a tinnitus discussion since I've been living with it since '99.
 
-The less you think about it, the better off you are. It will always be there; the trick is to keep yourself occupied and possibly to avoid pin-drop quiet situations. It will just magnify the ringing.
 
-The first few months after the ringing started my ears were extremely sensitive. I didn't use my headphones much because I had to listen at such a low volume. Over time I was able to increase the volume of my phones and my car stereo to a more normal level but it took quite a while. This was partly because of sensitivity and partly probably because I was scared to make it worse. Even after 10 years, though, I still wear earplugs to church as the live band is a bit too loud for me.
 
-Even after all of this time my ears ring a little more when I'm done with a listening session. Could be 2 songs or 2 hours, I still have slightly more ringing. Part of that could be music induced and part of it could be just the fact that I notice it a little more because the music is suddenly off. Probably a bit of both. I recently realized that closed cans, while they give me the deep bass I crave, actually give me more listening fatigue and slightly more ringing. I recently switched to the Audeze LCD-2 and the difference is amazing; there's less fatigue, less ringing and overall I feel more comfortable after listening to them. So in my experience open headphones might be better for tinnitus sufferers.
 
Good luck. Remember to be patient and let your ears heal/adjust in the short term.You may have to live with it for the rest of your life so try to make it a friendly relationship and not an adversarial one
 
Scott

 

[MusicaMan]

Just to echo what has been said - the Tinnitus expert I had to wait 5 weeks to see told me that it's perfectly fine to keep using headphones but to keep the volume way down. He said isolating IEMs or closed cans are best so that you do not have to turn the volume up as as much because there is a lot less external noise to compete with.
 
He also has tinnitus and said to just ignore it, by not focusing on it you can train your brain to not notice the sound as much. It took me a month before I was able to tune it out and start sleeping again.
 
Interesting note, when he was testing my hearing he gave me a pair of HD25s to put on, and said "these may look unusual to you, but they are very good", then I told him what they were he was very happy to meet another audiophile and we chatted for 30 minutes.

 

[Happy Camper]

Just to echo what has been said - the Tinnitus expert I had to wait 5 weeks to see told me that it's perfectly fine to keep using headphones but to keep the volume way down. He said isolating IEMs or closed cans are best so that you do not have to turn the volume up as as much because there is a lot less external noise to compete with.
 
He also has tinnitus and said to just ignore it, by not focusing on it you can train your brain to not notice the sound as much. It took me a month before I was able to tune it out and start sleeping again.
 
Interesting note, when he was testing my hearing he gave me a pair of HD25s to put on, and said "these may look unusual to you, but they are very good", then I told him what they were he was very happy to meet another audiophile and we chatted for 30 minutes.

That reminded me of Arlo

Just sitting there on the group W bench, smokin cigarettes and talkin bout audio AND all kinds of mean and nasty stuff

 

[MusicaMan]

Sorry the Arlo reference is completely lost on me (Alro Guthrie?). He was a nice Dr, we chatted about headphones and music. It was the most interesting doctors visit I've had (good and bad - he also told me I have some significant hearing loss in my left ear that was permanent).

 

[palmfish]

I first started noticing my tinnitus in 96 and it has slowly gotten worse over the years. I have both tinnitus and hearing loss in both ears (50dB at 4kHz).

What others have said about sleep, stress, diet, caffeine, and avoiding noise are all valid.

I do enjoy listening to headphones and speakers, but with my condition, fatigue sets is fairly quickly. My tinnitus also "reacts" to some noise and music as a kind of feedback sometimes.

One guideline is that if you are listening to music and after 5 or 10 minutes the volume sounds like it got lower and you feel like turning it up, that means that it was too loud to begin with and you should turn it down.. After a while, you'll learn what is a safe volume for you.

Tinnitus and hearing loss can be caused by noise exposure, but it is also genetic - some people are pre-disposed to getting it. If you experience it after a noise "event" (loud music, airplane flight, concert, etc.), don't panic Rest your ears for a few days and things will return to normal.

There are a lot of resources on the web to learn more about it. If you experience it once, take it as a warning and be more careful in the future to preserve your hearing. Believe me, I still consider myself an audiophile and I still enjoy listening to music, but tinnitus has reduced the pleasure I used to get in half and hampered my enjoyment.

 

[Rico613]

Please PM me if you are interested in this topic . . .
 
Rich

 

[teb1013]

I too have constant tinnitus, very noticeable, in both ears right more than left. Also hearing loss. This doesn't get in the way of listening or enjoying headphones. I just try to relegate the ringing to the background the way you might you might do as a passenger in a jet. I love music esp classical, jazz and classic rock (loud rock undoubtedly contributed to the problem years ago). I won't let stinking whistling tones get in the way of that! Good luck to all fellow sufferers!

 

[p a t r i c k]

I'm quite glad that the issue of tinnitus has arisen, or at least been revived in this thread.
 
In 2006 I discovered I had tinnitus and this led to a great deal of research as to finding a solution.
 
I found the best thing was Tinnitus Retraining Therapy:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus_retraining_therapy
 
I did speak to one specialist in London for one session, however I did all the rest of the therapy myself. I simply read up on the Pawel J. Jastreboff model and studied the science behind this. A good starting point is here:
 
http://www.tinnitus-pjj.com
 
I came to realise that what happened to me in 2006 was that I discovered the tinnitus that had been with me all my life. Up to that point my mind had simply not pinpointed it, or made a big deal out of it, so it was irrelevant. Then in 2006, after a period of practicing meditation, I noticed this tinnitus phenomenon and having noticed it I was focussing on it that was making it appear louder, indeed until it was a cacophony.
 
So, the answer is much more psychological than it is auditory. For me it was all about putting those tinnitus sounds back into the category of irrelevant in my mind. Once they are no longer being focussed on by the mind they slip away out of consciousness.

 

[doggrell3000]

i have tinnitus . my ears ring with a high treble Ab note all day and all night . i developed tinnitus over the years while playing my grand piano . also from listening to very loud rock music at concerts and on the stereo and with headphones . tinnitus and hearing loss is a modern disease caused by unprecedented noise and music levels never before experienced by the human race prior to the 1800s . just 300 years ago some people could go through their entire life without ever hearing a loud noise of any kind . 500 years ago 98% of the world population never heard a live -- much less recorded -- performance of music . we are direct descendents of forest animals who depended on acute hearing ability for self preservation . today we are destroying the ability to hear which took 500 thousand years of evolution to develop . doctors do not know enough about the complexities of tinnitus and hearing loss . the inner ear is one of the most complex parts of our bodies . tinnitus is cumulative . the more a person with hearing loss exposes his ears to noise and music the more hearing loss they will suffer . it never gets better -- it only gets worse . using headphones causes hearing loss and tinnitus . the more one uses their headphones the worse your hearing loss will become . headphones are far worse than listening to speakers . headphones are directly injecting unacceptable amounts of sound waves right on to your eardrums regardless of how low you might have the volume turned down . tinnitus and hearing loss accumulates with each new attack of music and noise . the human ear was never meant to be exposed to such pressure .
having said all that , i am not going to quit studying the piano and i just ordered a new pair of sony mdr-ma900 headphones . i pray that some day soon advances in medical science will figure out a way to repair the modern epidemic of tinnitus and hearing loss . but i would not hold my breath on that one .

doggrell3000

 

[zolkis]

As many have said before, there may be different causes for tinnitus: infection, insufficient blood flow in the inner ear, other inner ear problems, stress, etc.
Remedies will vary accordingly, so look for a good doctor before trying too many things.
For reference, some more material to read/watch:
http://www.tinn.com/100119Okamoto.pdf
 
http://tinnitussupport92262.yuku.com/topic/10877/t/Notched-Music-Therapy--Tinnitus-----Self-Video-Guide--Tailor.html#.UUcWfTKH7ng
(points to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFszNkG2q4A )
 
http://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy.211/
 
There have been good points about diet (take care with salt!), rest, avoiding noise stress (including distortion from speakers and headphones), etc.
There is no universal cure unfortunately.

 

[newphones]

Quote:

i have tinnitus . my ears ring with a high treble Ab note all day and all night . i developed tinnitus over the years while playing my grand piano . also from listening to very loud rock music at concerts and on the stereo and with headphones . tinnitus and hearing loss is a modern disease caused by unprecedented noise and music levels never before experienced by the human race prior to the 1800s . just 300 years ago some people could go through their entire life without ever hearing a loud noise of any kind . 500 years ago 98% of the world population never heard a live -- much less recorded -- performance of music . we are direct descendents of forest animals who depended on acute hearing ability for self preservation . today we are destroying the ability to hear which took 500 thousand years of evolution to develop . doctors do not know enough about the complexities of tinnitus and hearing loss . the inner ear is one of the most complex parts of our bodies . tinnitus is cumulative . the more a person with hearing loss exposes his ears to noise and music the more hearing loss they will suffer . it never gets better -- it only gets worse . using headphones causes hearing loss and tinnitus . the more one uses their headphones the worse your hearing loss will become . headphones are far worse than listening to speakers . headphones are directly injecting unacceptable amounts of sound waves right on to your eardrums regardless of how low you might have the volume turned down . tinnitus and hearing loss accumulates with each new attack of music and noise . the human ear was never meant to be exposed to such pressure .
having said all that , i am not going to quit studying the piano and i just ordered a new pair of sony mdr-ma900 headphones . i pray that some day soon advances in medical science will figure out a way to repair the modern epidemic of tinnitus and hearing loss . but i would not hold my breath on that one .

doggrell3000

 
We are all highly sympathetic to your situation, but just about every claim you have made is grossly, almost laughably inaccurate. 
 
1. exposure to music does not lead to hearing damage. It is sustained exposure to excessive noise levels which is damaging.
 
2. the use of headphones certainly does not cause tinnitus in every case, nor does it worsen tinnitus in every case. These claims are completely preposterous. 
 
As a matter of fact, tinnitus therapy programs REQUIRE the use of headphones more or less 24/7 as the major component of treatment. 
 
No offense, but you have posted pure drivel. 

 

[doggrell3000]

dear newphones

ignorance is bliss .