Can You Use Earbuds With Tinnitus?

Why Earbud Can Damage Your Ears And Aggravate The Eardrum

For those of you who own wireless earbuds, you might have realized that after a while they start looking like little danglers.

The tiny buds inside might get tangled up in clothing and other items around the ears and cause them to pop off.

If you’re concerned about hearing damage caused by earbud, you should visit your local hearing professional for advice.

They will examine your ears and give you advice on how best to care for them. Keep in mind though, that although this type of hearing issue is usually fairly easy to fix, it’s worth being vigilant about cleaning your earbuds as much as possible.

The only real way to avoid earbud issues is by avoiding constant direct contact with them, but even then that’s easier said than done!

What Can Earbuds Do to Your Ears?

If you use earbuds while listening to music on your portable electronic device like your iPod, cell phone or MP3 player you will have experienced what is known as permanent damage of your ear hearing.

Earbud headphones are the latest innovation in audio technology and provide a good sort of an invisible earphone solution to wireless headphone users.

These earbuds are placed inside the ear canal and work just like wired earbuds, except they’re a lot cheaper.

They are designed to move with your head and move the speaker units in a completely wireless fashion, but they do this at a fraction of the energy that wired headphones use.

While all earbuds can eventually result in hearing loss, permanent damage to ear can occur if it is not used properly.

earbuds damage your ears by pneumatic pressure to build up in the ear canal

Pneumatic pressure or earbud shock occurs when the ear canal becomes irritated or inflamed because of an unseen pressure build up in the ear canal.

  • When the ear canal becomes overly inflamed the ear becomes pressurized and cannot accommodate any additional earwax or fluid to the ear canal simply seal off completely.
  • Earbud headphones are a great idea and a huge advancement in audio technology, but they can cause permanent damage to your ear if the earbuds are not properly cared for.
  • Improperly placed earbuds can become a common place for these problems.

Earbuds damage your ears by allowing dirt and water to enter the ear canal, which in turn can cause permanent hearing loss.

A common way to fix this problem is to either buy new earbuds or to wash the dirt and water out of them.

Earbud shock is usually only a problem for people who use headphones on a regular basis, because the constant shaking of the head causes pressure to build against the ear drum and can cause earbuds to slip out.

Can Earbuds Affect Sound Quality?

Earbuds have not long been a common solution for those suffering from tinnitus.

However, recent research has revealed that earbuds can in fact exacerbate your tinnitus and therefore in some cases could be detrimental to your health.

Sound quality headphones have been used by many to help stop tinnitus because they make the sounds on a surround sound format almost infinitely louder than their regular frequency.

However, this type of headphone usually also have white noise CD’s already incorporated into them which then play loudly in the background which masks or makes the ringing more prominent.

Unfortunately this type of sound is also likely to cause more noise of the opposite frequency to that of the headphones causing a vicious cycle of noise intensification which will ultimately worsen your tinnitus.

earbuds have tinnitus affect sound quality media potentially exacerbate your tinnitus

Recent studies conducted at the University of Otago in New Zealand have found that the loudness level produced by earbuds when playing music was not as great as it was with regular headphones.

The researchers suggest that the loudness caused to you by earbuds may in fact be more damaging to your hearing then the noise pollution caused by regular headphones.

One explanation for this is that the impact noise pollution caused from earbuds is amplified three fold than what is delivered through regular headphones which means that the volume produced from earbuds can in fact be louder than that produced from earphones alone.

One way to combat this problem is to only listen to music through earbuds whilst being at a medium volume.

Another solution is to use an air conditioner to mask or dampen the noise a bit but the combination of having no external noise and still being able to hear your music through your earbuds can be difficult.

This problem however is likely to be compounded by the increasing number of people using mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices while driving.

This means that it is now even more important to have good ear protection.

A third possible solution is simply to use wire headphones rather than earbuds so that you are free to move your head and still listen to the music.

How Bone Conduction Headphones Mitigate Tinnitus?

  • Bone conduction headphones work by using a thin diaphragm to transmit the sound. Because the bones are not directly attached to the speaker, there is a lot less resistance.
  • So, when someone speaks, the vibration that the voice creates vibrates the diaphragm, sending a series of signals to the amplifier, which then transmits them to the speakers.
  • The thicker diaphragm acts as a natural filtering center reducing any unwanted high frequencies from reaching the speaker.
  • So, bone conduction headphones effectively reduce all external sounds from being transmitted into the ears thus eliminating or minimizing the ringing and other similar sounds that can make it difficult or impossible to sleep at night.

bone conduction headphones mask external sounds make it mitigate tinnitus

Another factor that makes these headphones helpful is their ability to cancel out external sounds.

When you go to bed at night with headphones on, there are a constant ringing and hissing noise that can keep you awake even if you have had a good night’s sleep.

But, if you have these headphones on at night, you will not hear those annoying sounds because they will be totally canceled out by the ringing in your ear. This allows you to get a restful and calming sleep.

Another factor bone conduction headphones use is that they create a sound tunnel which basically reduces or masks the external sounds that cause the tinnitus.

When the sound travels through this sound tunnel, it eliminates all other external sounds and only the sound of your own voice will be heard.

So, because the tinnitus is not being heard, your brain ends up hearing only your own sound, thus helping to reduce it. In addition, this helps to balance your current level of hearing.

As you can see, this form of technology works extremely well at masking tinnitus.

Bone Conduction Headphones For Tinnitus – Do They Really Work?

Bone conduction headphones for tinnitus since they can mask the ambient noise is a very important technology these days. They work by sending an electric impulse through the headphone jack to the inner ear where the hearing nerve is located. This impulse then amplifies the sound, so that any background noise is reduced. Although this technology has been around for a long time and has helped many people, there are many people who claim that it does not work as advertised.

In fact, some users claim that they have experienced much worse than they used to have before using the headphones. There is no scientific proof or evidence that the noise reduction can be guaranteed with headphones. Some say that the reduction of noise can only be achieved up to a certain point, after which the level of noise starts increasing again since the brain loses its sensitivity to the changing noise. Others say that although there is a reduction in the noise, the amount of loss of hearing is reduced, which means that the tinnitus caused by the noise is not masked. The amount of loss of hearing that is experienced is usually a lot more than the tinnitus that the person used to have before using the headphones.

Many users claim that the bone conduction headphones for tinnitus do work, but only if you know how to use them properly. Although they may help you reduce some of the noise, you will need to set your headphone volume at a comfortable level in order to prevent damage to your ear drum. Although the headphones can mask the noise, they will not be able to remove it completely.

Noise Isolating Headphones Work Simply by Creating Physical Barriers Between Your Ears

Noise-isolating headphones work simply by creating a physical barrier between your ears. The basic principle of the headphones is based on the theory of one way sound waves travel, which means that they cannot travel in the same path as your head. The isolation ensures that no external sounds can influence the sound you are listening to, thereby ensuring that only your own noise will be able to influence your mind. The sound waves are usually padded on the outside with a specially designed material.

Some modern noise isolating headphones also come with a microphone built right into them. This allows the music to be processed digitally and then played back at a high volume. Digital processing is an advance over the basic equalizer based equalization systems used in other types of headphones. This makes digital music highly efficient, as well as giving it a better sound quality than any traditional equalizer system. This type of music listening may be perfect for the working person who has no desire to spend hours trudging from one place to another to listen to their favorite music. It can also be the perfect device for people who need constant white noise during their workout.

Noise-isolating headphones are a great buy if you are an aspiring DJ or just enjoy listening to music in quiet environments. Headphones that incorporate a microphone built right into them are excellent purchases, as they offer all of the benefits of a good pair of headphones, without the need for extra equipment or additional wiring. Headphones like these can be used while jogging or exercising, as long as you don’t run out of room while doing so.

Noise Cancelling Headphones Using Built In Microphones

Noise cancelling headphones are becoming more popular than ever. Most people now own cell phones, which make it extremely difficult to hear music over the head phones without the aid of headphones. It can be almost impossible to have a full time job and have the time to listen to music over your head phones when you need to be out and about. Noise cancelling headphones are designed to cut out the ambient noise that is in most environments. This allows people to listen to their music without having to worry about hearing other sounds in the surrounding area.

Noise cancelling headphones using built in microphones to listen for incoming sounds

There are many manufacturers of noise cancelling headphones. Most of the manufacturer’s design and manufacture their own specific models. There are companies such as Bose, Headfun, Sony, and Grado that all produce headphones that work very well for different consumers. Some will notice an improvement in the sound of their music, while others might not notice any difference at all. The only way to know for sure what you are listening to is to try them out.

The type of noise cancelling headphones that work best for you will most likely depend on how you normally listen to and hear music. If you listen to music through headphones a lot then the built in microphones on the headphones will likely be able to capture the sounds around you for your listening pleasure. However, if you are more content with speakers then you might not want to invest in headphones and choose instead to listen with the on-board speakers.