Headphones for Tinnitus
Using standard headphones and earbuds when you have tinnitus can affect the sound quality of the media being played and potentially exacerbate your tinnitus. With that in mind, we’ve created a list of different headphone technologies that have been shown to maintain a high quality of sound while also managing your tinnitus.
Noise Cancelling and Noise Isolating Headphones for Tinnitus
Noise cancelling headphones work by using built in microphones to listen for incoming sounds to your headphones. The electronic components within the headphones will then process the sounds to create inverse sound waves that match those external sounds. By matching the sounds, it causes destructive interference and eliminates the incoming noise altogether.
Noise isolating headphones on the other hand work simply by creating a physical barrier between your ears and the external sounds. Both in-ear and on-ear headphones can help isolate you from external and ambient noise.
These are potentially good headphones for tinnitus because they allow users to listen to their music or media at much lower volumes since the external noises are being heavily reduced. These headphones can even be worn without music being played in loud rooms to cut down the overall noise exposure.
ADEL Headphones for Tinnitus
ADEL (Ambrose Diaphonic Ear Lens) headphones and technology were created by Stephen Ambrose, an audio pioneer and engineer who first invented the In-Ear monitor. After working in the sound and music industry for years, he had a feeling that ear buds were actually damaging your ears. He went on to receive over $2 million in grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health to research the effects of earbuds on your ears. As a result of his studies, he was able to conclude that using earbuds do in fact damage your ears by allowing pneumatic pressure to build up in the ear canal and aggravate the eardrum.
Based on this new found research and data, he started development on the ADEL headphones. What’s so unique about these headphones is that they come with a second eardrum built into each earbud. These second eardrums actually take the punishment of the pneumatic pressure caused by sound in the ear canal, which allows the user to receive crisp and clear sounds.
These are potentially good headphones for tinnitus due to the fact that they reduce the pneumatic pressure built up in the ear and it allows users to hear high quality sound at a fraction of the volume level that you would need from normal earbuds.
Bone Conduction Headphones for Tinnitus
Bone conduction headphones are unique. They create vibrations on the bones of the face to transmit sounds directly to the inner ear. Whereas traditional headphones transmit sound waves through the air and directly into the ear canal.
Although the sound quality of these headphones may not live up to the expectations of audiophiles. They are still a good solution for users with hearing impairments by providing them with a sense of hearing they otherwise would not receive through traditional headphones.
These are potentially good headphones for tinnitus since they are able mask the ambient noise that comes in through the ears. Some traditional headphones will block out the external sounds and ambient noise, which could make the tinnitus seem louder if they were being partially masked by them. By using bone conduction headphones to mask external sounds, it could make it easier for individuals to temporarily mitigate their tinnitus.
We hope that you found this list of headphones for tinnitus useful when purchasing your next pair. Regardless if you’re using regular headphones or the headphones listed above, you can still cause hearing damage if you don’t use them properly, use them for too long of a period or if you use them at a high volume level. Please keep in mind these headphone technologies may be a way to help maintain a high quality of sound and better manage your tinnitus.
AudioCardio is a technology company focused on hearing health and wellness. Learn how AudioCardio can help maintain and strengthen your hearing with your favorite headphones or hearing aids at www.audiocardio.com.
