Tinnitus Masking Headphones - My View

[Dazza2024]

My Tinnitus is pretty bad & I have some high pitched at around 12-14,000 Hz. I have tried & used various methods to try and mask it and it never seems to do it 100%. I also tried various headphones & hearing aids with masking or playing relaxing sounds thru the Bluetooth.

I also cycle a lot & feel that some past road noise & beeping horns may have caused some recent hearing Damage & Tinnitus noise increasing.

I also want to cut the Grass & even with a Cordless lawnmower at 74Decibels, I don't want to risk damaging my hearing or tinnitus increasing, it is loud enough as it is.

I thought I would try some Ear Defenders that had Bluetooth or a Radio.

I bought these of Ebay, they cost around £40.84.

Mpow AM/FM Radio Ear Protection Headphone Bluetooth NRR 29dB Headset Ear Muffs

The Ear Defender part is pretty good, it cuts the road noise & loud bangs right out, the sound from the Radio & Bluetooth is good too. I have tested the output with a decibel meter and it goes very loud, so you need to be cautious and keep the volume down. The battery life seems very low at about 1-2 hours, so invest in some rechargeable AAA batteries.

At low volumes, I seemed to come very close to masking my tinnitus out 100%, without thinking about it, it seemed like in some moments, it had gone away. I think this is because the ear muffs are very tight fitting with decent foam and a really good seal around my ears & that no high level Frequencies or sound is able to leak out. This keeps the sound inside the ear muffs and it seems to do a pretty good job of masking out my tinnitus which was probably as close to 100% as I could every get it in some moments, other headphones have not come anywhere close to it.

If you order & try these too, let me know how you get on, I think these will work out good for you as well. I have spent months trying to mask or get some quiet time and my tinnitus is pretty hard to mask, as it is also in the High Frequencies. I will also be ordering a couple of spare pairs. As noted above, the battery life is quite draining, they should have squeezed in a rechargeable battery pack, so order some rechargeable batteries. They take AAA size and the Amazon Green Branded batteries are pretty good value with high capacity & you will need a charger for the AAA batteries as well, there is many options online for batteries & chargers.

Good Luck with your Masking & trying out these Ear Defender Headphones as well. I managed some really good masking at low volumes with them.

Are Ear Defenders & Music at the same time safe.....the air is sealed inside, so there is a lot of pressure, but, I had the volume really low. I will try and get some advice from my Audiologist at the next visit on them.

You also use at your own risk.

I did try some bone conducting headphones, that came close to masking my tinnitus, but, I could still hear it, I could also feel my bones vibrating crazy and powerful when I plugged my ear with my finger, I do wonder how safe bone conducting headphones are, as the bones are vibrating with a lot more intensity than normal sound I think. Are they more dangerous than normal headphones...we all wonder too.

[Karlos99]

hi there. I was told not to try and mask my tinnitus completely. To aim for the volume you play just under the noise of my tinnitus. That way the brain learns to adapt better and eventually tone the tinnitus down. If you drown it out completely your brain can’t choose which is unimportant. All the best.

[Tal-r789T]

I have a Sonos for night. I can't find a pitch that matches my high pitch T bit it's enough to distract when asleep. I don't use during the day due to working, and have HA which I find helps me ignore the T.

[WildIris]

This kind of masking treatment wasn't available 50 years ago when I was first afflicted. I did read something back then from a famous singer (don't remember who) had tinnitus and said it always seemed like a benefit, something private that only she could hear. I am teaching myself now, at age 70, to respond positively when I notice it, like when I'm alone (even with the TV/music on, I do hear it). I think, "its my sound, the sound of my life, (like it or not)", or something like that. Better than getting upset about it as I always used to. It has gotten louder over the years, but still doesn't really interfere with my hearing.