How headphones ruined my life

[Roman25]

The title of this is dark, but I actually intend for this to help you not make the same mistakes I made. 

Let's rewind 4 months into the past. It's my first semester of college. I have 4 online classes and 1 face-to-face class. I basically spent almost all of my time at home, listening to music and doing college homework. I would listen to music for about 10 hours a day. I would always make sure the volume was low so that my hearing wouldn't get damaged. Then this happened...

I was listening to a song one day and all of a sudden I started hearing strange noises in my left ear. I was very shocked and immediately took off my headphones. All of a sudden, I became super sensitive to sound. Anytime I would talk, eat, listen to others talk, or hear "normal noises" I would feel an uncomfortable pressure in my left and also hear a strange noise. I would gently put a cup down against the counter, boom! I hear the strange noise in my ear and feel the pressure from the cup touching the counter. The strange sound is hard to explain. If you're curious about what it sounds like then swipe your finger across your arm. That's a 95% match of the same sound.

I went to my college class and this was a horrible mistake. The voice of the teacher felt super loud in my left ear. And I would constantly hear the strange sound in my ear almost every time the teacher spoke a word. Every time I would go to that class, I would have to be tortured for over an hour, listening to my teacher's voice.

I frantically searched on the internet for hearing problems. It is obvious to me that headphones are the cause. I mean, what else could be the cause? I would listen to them every day, for about 10 hours. While doing research on hearing problems, I found out about a hearing problem called hyperacusis. It's where normal noises are uncomfortably loud. Apparently, only 1 in 50,000 people ever get hyperacusis. I'm the chosen one.

After about 2 months, I decided to go to the doctor. I already knew that they wouldn't know what to do. There is close to 0 medical aid for hearing problems, and ears don't heal themselves. The doctor said that I most likely have hyperacusis, and it's probably permanent. The checked my left ear and apparently, there's nothing structurally wrong with it. The doctor said that it's most likely a problem with how my brain is perceiving sound. 

During the first couple of months, I felt extremely suicidal. I couldn't have conversations without feeling discomfort, eating, or really doing anything that makes too much sound. Even my own voice is too loud. I genuinely felt like I have to kill myself to escape this torture. But I saw this quote that really stuck with me. "worrying makes you suffer twice." This quote really inspired me to change my mindset about my hearing problem. 

I also learned that overindulging in something can have bad consequences. I overindulged in music. I listened to it way too much. And my hearing paid the price. Are headphones really the cause of my hearing problem? Yes, I am 99% sure they are. 

I hope that you can learn something from this and use it to prevent any future problems. I'll also include a video on the bottom of someone who has hyperacusis. Thanks for taking the time to read  

 

[caspex]

That sucks man, sorry to hear that. I wish you best of luck on your journey of life.

[Roman25]

Thanks so much Swarnim. I really hope that your make the most out of life as well. 

[Leo Gura]

That really sucks man. Seems a bit similar to people who get tinnitus.

Yeah, listening to 10hrs of music per day is way too much. My mind would get numb from that much music. I wear ear plugs a lot just to get deep silence even there is no significant noise around me.

You shouldn't listen to more than a few hours of music per day. And even then, you need to take days off from music or it loses itself specialness.

[Roman25]

Thanks for the comment, Leo. If I could rewind time then I wouldn't wear any earplugs or headphones ever again. Even looking at a pair of headphones frustrates me. But I do think you can get away with listening to music for a couple of hours a day. Take a look at the things you do on a daily basis and ask yourself, "am I overindulging in this"? "Will this cause harm to me if I keep doing too much of it?"

Anyways, I hope you and anyone reading got something useful from it  

[Hardkill]

I am so sorry about that OP. 

Thank you for sharing this information. I really hope you one day find some treatment or cure for this.

 

[Roman25]

Hey Hardkill. I really appreciate your care. The reason why it's so hard to cure healing problems is due to the fact that they usually have to do with the brain. The brain is the thing that sends the signals and stuff. It's hard to understand what's wrong and how to fix it.

Enjoy your night

[Bobby_2021]

I recommend no one wear ear phones that has a bud sticking inside your ears. 

Instead wear head phones that doesn't have an ear plug that sticks inside your ear. 

Ears are very sensitive.

@Roman25 Music may have contributed to your condition in some way. But I am sure that's not the only reason. So don't be too hard on yourself. 

[Yonkon]

As someone with Tinnitus i can relate. It took some years, but now i can use Tinnitus for spiritual growth. I even meditate on it!

I hope you can achieve something similar someday.

[hoodrow trillson]

That’s wild OP, I’m sorry you’re going through that.  I had no idea that’s even a thing.  Hearing loss or getting tinnitus is a big fear of mine.  I can’t even imagine your situation of things being incredibly loud and uncomfortable.

My best friend suffers from tinnitus from listening to lots of loud music with stereos and headphones when we were growing up.  Ever since he told me about that, I have always put EQ loudness limits in the settings of all my devices.  

And Leo is right about the music thing—too much music loses its specialness.  Taking a few days off from music makes it so much more amazing when you come back to it.

 

[RMQualtrough]

My grandpa has tinnitus since years ago. He's 83 now. I think over time a person gets used to it as far as I know from him.

[Dryas]

I can relate somewhat (tinnitus). Ear problems can be some of the scariest. 
 

I believe mine was, in part, caused by excessive use of headphones too. 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Dryas

[Extreme Z7]

I used to use headphones a lot years back and it did give me temporary tinnitus after using them too much. I learned pretty quickly to watch how often I listen to music, not just for ear protection, but also because the enjoyment of music does diminish if you've listening to it for very long consecutive periods of time.

[mmKay]

I've got tinnitus since birth as well, and ever since I got a tooth implant I swear i started picking up radio waves as well. Constant ringing and beeping in this head. 

The causes for your condition may be non linear and very hard to track. Don't stop looking for a cure. If mainstream medicine let's you down look for some alternative paths. 

Wish you the best ?

[Hello from Russia]

Stay strong, man, that really sucks

Edited March 6, 2022 by Hello from Russia

[StarStruck]

That is why I bought  NC headphones. Yea they are expensive but they are so much worth it. Usually I put them on with chill vibes and very low volume. I never listened to music for that long since I don’t work or study 10 hours straight but it is definitely something to be aware of. If you have an iPhone it will warn you after couple of hours to dail your shit back a little or it will ask you to take a break. 

So buy an iPhone and buy NC headphones

[Javfly33]

Thanks for sharing man. Im sorry and i Hope you find a way to live peacefully with your disease,if you cant end Up healing It.

Personally i always had this intuition that listening music from headphones has to be worse than on a speaker. This def confirms It. Ill reduce the amount of music i listen to thanks to your post

[Seraphim]

I'm sure you can heal it. I would look everywhere, even ask mediums/channels/energy readers/shamans etc. For example, check out the "90.10.Medbed", you can try it for free for 8 hours, quantum healing. There are so many things you can try, we live in an amazing age where many things are possible and much more is coming.

[axiom]

@Roman25 Can / does the brain learn to compensate for the increased volume of ordinary sounds? 

I have tinnitus. I have learned to forget about it most of the time, but in a quiet room it can become quite annoying. I often wish I was able to hear absolute silence again.

Edited March 6, 2022 by axiom

[Staples]

Thanks for posting about this. 

I've been working an office job the last 6 months that lets me wear headphones most of the day. 

I've always had it in the back of my head that this was a risk, I'll be more careful.