Apple Hearing Study Reveals New Insights on Tinnitus

[ric22]

Same thing here. Quiet rooms are the worst.

Agreed! When I lived in Thailand for a year with AC on all day every day, and often fans too, I never noticed it. I'm typing this in a quiet room and it's unpleasant. I went through a stage of not being able to read a book for any length of time without a fan on.

If I attended a rock gig it would be way worse for a few weeks, unless I used ear plugs.

 

[usmaak]

Apple was just a food when my tinnitus started. They left incessant high pitched screeching out of their list.

 

[SBlue1]

Would be great if Apple would allow all headphones to use audiograms like it used to be, not just their own headphones.

 

[Surf Monkey]

I might have been that drummer 😆

I’m 62 and played drums in bands all through teens and into my forties, before the use of in-ears. I’m now paying the price with 24/7 tinnitus. In truth, I’ve learnt to live with it. It’s only really annoying at night when I’m thinking about it.

I’m sure this is common amongst drummers. Ours was hitting his kit that hard because he was also losing his hearing. At one point he wanted to mic his kit and amp it to a monitor behind him so he could “hear” his playing. It’s like a vicious circle. Loud drums damage your hearing so you play louder which damages your hearing more so you play louder…

 

[Surf Monkey]

Apple was just a food when my tinnitus started. They left incessant high pitched screeching out of their list.

Dare we ask what the source of this “incessant high pitched screeching” was?

 

[leicaman]

For a while I kept wondering why there were cicadas outside our house making noise every night. I finally realized it wasn't them, because they aren't always out there, but tinnitus. Luckily, as bad as this issue is, at least I have built in white noise to go to sleep to.

 

[usmaak]

Dare we ask what the source of this “incessant high pitched screeching” was?

I’m not sure. I’ve had it just about for as long as I can remember. I suspect a concert when I was in high school.

As I’ve had it this long, I really don’t think much about it. It’s always there but I often don’t notice. I feel truly bad for people who have silence most of their lives and then get it taken by tinnitus. I can’t imagine what that would be like.

 

[MM07]

Thank, it is not only me then with Airpod pros. Got rid of them too, much better on Sonys

Just curious on what Sony headphones you have now?

 

[x86dude]

There are at least 5 different medical causes of Tinnitus including heart trouble. Be skeptical of ads on the internet offering a cure.

 

[0s and 1s]

Tinnitus sucks!

Or can suck depending on severity. If you have a mild sound that doesn't bother you during the day I think one can learn to manage to live with it, but if it's moderate to severe it can truly affect the quality of life negatively.

Prevention is of course best, but ultimately we need to find a cure for those situations when damage happens!

Same goes for curing hyperacusis (makes some ”normal” sounds louder) and hearing-loss. Horrible conditions I don't wish upon anyone. It is surreal having gone from no hearing issues at all where your hearing is ”just there” as one of your senses and not something you think much about, to then experience a constant high-pitch cicada like tinnitus, hyperacusis and hearing difference due to loosing some high-frequency hair cells.

Some of the amazing biology in the human inner ear unfortunately doesn't regenerate (hair cells and synapses).

So be careful and don't take your hearing for granted!

Thank you for sharing - I’ve had it for a few days now and doctors are trying to figure out the culprit. It has definitely impacted my quality of life and it’s very humbling.

Massive respect to anyone out there that has experienced this.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Thank you for sharing - I’ve had it for a few days now and doctors are trying to figure out the culprit. It has definitely impacted my quality of life and it’s very humbling.

Massive respect to anyone out there that has experienced this.

There are several kinds too. Temporary, like the kind of ringing you get after a loud show, chronic where you always hear it for the rest of your life and transient ringing caused by things like disease, dehydration and other biological factors.

 

[Surf Monkey]

There are at least 5 different medical causes of Tinnitus including heart trouble. Be skeptical of ads on the internet offering a cure.

You beat me to it! Exactly right.

 

[moodler]

I have tinnitus and I’ve been reeearching this a lot lately.

I’m not seeing enough in this article (weirdly) how AirPods Pro can HELP with tinnitus.

I was trialling some in-ear hearing aids to help restore the higher frequency hearing loss, because that in turn helps the brain (over time) stop making up tinnitus sounds.

Then I realised that the “Hearing accommodations” settings on iPhone do the same thing on AirPods and it works really well! Put your audiogram in and tweak the tone as you like. You’ll hear better (when in transparency mode) and the constant exposure to more high frequencies for a few hours can really help reduce the tinnitus (even after you take the AirPods off)

So if you’re struggling with tinnitus give this a go

I just wish Apple added the same hearing accommodations to iPad and Mac

 

[Rokach]

I did just that. Ended up in a loud venue a month ago with two friends. Didn't have my earplugs. Should have just left, but staid a while after having made ”plugs” of napkins (don't dampen much sound at all). Feel like an idiot because my tinnitus is now worse, I have hyperacusis and the hearing is different (worse).



Yes! That would be absolutely life changing for some many people if could be done. I also think it would be beneficial for the music, venue and hi-fi/sound/speaker business if we could fix hearing issues. I don't feel like listening to music at all at this stage.

Speaking of this, venues should take more responsibility for the sound volume and sound quality and not risk people's hearing just because they don't have ear plugs. I also think it would be good with some kind of international standard warning sign that shows if a venue has measured a certain dB level during the sound check so people know what they are getting themselves into (I don't think many people know about the horrible conditions – maybe people have heard about tinnitus and hearing-loss and tinnitus, but I don't think many have heard of hyperacusis.

WHO global standard for safe listening venues and events

WHO global standard for safe listening venues and events

Publicaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud

www.who.int

SHOULD NIGHTCLUBS BE DOING MORE TO PROTECT YOUR HEARING?

https://mixmag.net/feature/should-nightclubs-venues-events-festival-be-doing-more-to-protect-your-hearing-tinnitus-awareness

Read my post on Redfit

From the HearingLoss community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the HearingLoss community

www.reddit.com

 

[svish]

Good to see Apple paying more interest in the health field.

 

[polyphenol]

Around sixty years of tinnitus now.

We had an old B&W 14" television (yes, it was old even then!) It would often emit a high pitched tone - I guess pretty much a pure sine wave - and one day, I complained about it being annoying and would someone switch it off. But it wasn't even plugged in and hadn't been used in hours. It was entirely in my head.

From then on, with varying characteristics, intensities, and degrees of annoyance, it has been more or less continuous. High pitched, chirpy, low hum, pure sine waves at various frequencies, and multiple combinations and variations. It affects my ability to hear things, to fall asleep, to relax.

I'm sure I'm better off than some, those for whom it is unbearably loud. And I find that speech radio is often able to help me overcome it - even if I am not actually listening to the words properly, just as background.

Just occasionally, I can have a few minutes of silence. Maybe two or three times a year. Which would be wonderful except I end up wondering whether it will last 5 or 6 minutes rather than just delighting in it.

 

[Pug72]

Sympathies with fellow sufferers, can be extremely hard to cope with and affect mental health.
My best coping method during my darkest days was a simple walk outside. Couldn't hear it at all thanks to the birds and ambient sounds.
Would love to experience silence again but know that's very unlikely.

 

[nt5672]

Where does it say that in any shape or form? This is not a study on Apple devices nor on digital device use in general. It makes no claims on whether Apple devices affect tinnitus. The only thing Apple related the article offers that is related to the results is how to lower the exposure to loud sounds based on the preliminary findings.

Now if this was an Apple sponsored study on, for example, app security and third party app stores I’d be a lot more skeptical about the findings but the hearing study is about as unrelated to Apple’s business model as it gets.

But it did fail to address the numerous studies about how harmful Apple earbuds are!

 

[Iconoclysm]

So apple is using their customers as guinea pigs without their consent?

First, Google does that with literally every product they create. Second, there was an option to sign up for this study.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

But it did fail to address the numerous studies about how harmful Apple earbuds are!

Would you be able to list any studies that are specific to Apple’s earbuds and not just loud volume on earbuds in general?

Also, Apple didn’t put out an article to describe all hearing studies (i.e., not intended to be a literature review). It’s specifically describing the findings from this study. They are also not using it to suggest that Apple products are harmless, especially since they are also giving recommendations on how to limit your volume, which implies that sustained loud volumes on Apple devices can also lead to issues. I feel like this is as innocuous as it gets with corporate sponsored research.

 

[ric22]

Seeing the word tinnitus reminds me of the high pitched ringing in my ears, but otherwise it is not something that I'd been aware of today, despite the near silence in my home.

 

[Musocat]

What I would give to experience silence again. Mine isn't bad, but it's a drag.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

So apple is using their customers as guinea pigs without their consent?

This is not using device analytics data. Participants are asked hearing related questions regularly so the researchers can understand their experience. You have to join the study by downloading the research app and signing up for the study before you can be a participant. There is a very easy to understand informed consent process in the onboarding process that you have to go through before they can have your data. You are also allowed to withdraw from the study at any point.

 

[star-affinity]

Seeing the word tinnitus reminds me of the high pitched ringing in my ears, but otherwise it is not something that I'd been aware of today, despite the near silence in my home.

Congrats. Then I guess it’s probably relatively mild. Many with milder sounds seem to habituate pretty well. But unfortunately it's not always the case when it's over a certain level (of course also depending on the individul)

My high pitched tinnitus is like a laser I the ear and head and even if I don't hear it in all situations I can feel something is running in my head. Truly annoying. Makes the brain foggy. At least some days are a bit better than others.

 

[ric22]

Congrats. Then I guess it’s probably relatively mild. Many with milder sounds seem to habituate pretty well. But unfortunately it's not always the case when it's over a certain level (of course also depending on the individul)

My high pitched tinnitus is like a laser I the ear and head and even if I don't hear it in all situations I can feel something is running in my head. Truly annoying. Makes the brain foggy. At least some days are a bit better than others.

That does sound bad! I find mine mood and stress dependant also, and it can be much worse at times. Stress can give me high blood pressure, and that really turns up the volume. I just had a workout and that turns the volume up as well. 18 months ago I went through a particularly bad patch with tinnitus. Does anything make yours worse/less excruciating?