Tinnitus & Bose Hearphones

[bhyde]

@Xyz987 wrote:

 Question...why get those instead of hearing aids?

For me simply a case of economics. 

Audiologists/Doctors have told me that hearing aids might help me with tinnitus and I really only need a hearing "boost" in noisy environments.  Since my insurance does not cover hearing aids, to purchase a set of digitial aids with many of the features of the Hearphones (noise cancelling, mic directivity, bluetooth, streaming, etc.) my cost would be several thousand dollars each.  While I will most certainly need hearing aids sometime in the future, I'd rather not pay for the reoccuring cost of them at this time.

Note on tinnitus:  

The Hearphones appealled to me primarily to the feature of being able to play white noise tracks (rain, babbling brook, fountains, etc.) as background while still being able to hear my surroundings - something most ear phones don't offer.  This setup provides significant releif for me during flare-ups.    I have contstant tinnitus but only use the noise tracks for times when things get really bad and I'm having trouble focusing on anything else but the ringing.

After several months of use I've also noticed an additional benefit.  An increased treble setting for "World Volume" has resulted in a reduced ringing sensation most times I am wearing them.   I'm making a layman's guess that since some medical professionals have opined that tinnitus can occur as a way the brain fills in for high-frequency loss, the increased treble is actually compensating and reducing the ringing.  I figure my guess is as good as any since I've been to several hearing doctors/audiologists and they really have no authoritive answer on how to relieve tinnitus.   They told me to try supplements like Lipoflavonoid, change my diet, etc.   I did as suggested but never noticed any change. 

For me the  Hearphones have provided measurable relief and I recommend they at least be tried by tinnitus sufferers.  

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[MWTH]

I have experienced the same mine tend to flare up when I'm in a quite place expecially when I'm in my car, and my this Device acutally helps reduce and stop the flareups with blasting my car stereo system.... 

[lkingston]

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JeffB wrote:
I have tinnitus. It scares me to put something in my ears which could cause more hearing damage and make the constant ringing in my ears worse. Is this product still ok for me?

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This is one of my main concerns with hearing aids.  Traditional hearing aids are additive.  They pass the outside world sounds through to your ear through a physical ear channel.  They do this to avoid the occlusion effect (where your own voice resonates in your head if your ears are blocked).  Hearphones are the only hearing assist device that I know of that actually can reduce ambient sounds significantly.  I also find that the noise reduction lets me listen to music and phone calls at far lower levels since I only have to get the Bluetooth audio louder than the ringing in my ears, and no longer also have to get it above the ambient noise.

I really enjoy live music and I find that the hearphones are wonderful in that context in that they allow me to lower the volume of loud acts significantly.  This is especially important to me since I also have hyperacusis (physical pain from loud sounds).  Hearphones will protect your remaining hearing whereas traditional hearing aids will not.

[missashleyc]

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@bhyde wrote:

After several months of use I've also noticed an additional benefit.  An increased treble setting for "World Volume" has resulted in a reduced ringing sensation most times I am wearing them.   I'm making a layman's guess that since some medical professionals have opined that tinnitus can occur as a way the brain fills in for high-frequency loss, the increased treble is actually compensating and reducing the ringing. 

I'm experiencing this, as well, and it's a welcome change from the usual buzzing. The Hearphones let me forget about the ringing in my ears and it isn't until I take them off and am in a quiet room that the tinnitus makes itself known again (and mine is constant, so any relief I can get is a gift).

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[kleeblatt]

I got tinnitus a year after using Bose Noise Canceling Headphones.