Doesn't seem to be a thing?
ANC reduces background noise, which typically allows users to listen at lower volumes, thereby reducing total sound exposure to the ear. So if the user adapts their volume, that would lead to less risk of tinnitus. This works for me :)
But there are lots of people on forums suggesting that there is a link between tinnitus and ANC. One reason could be that ANC headphones allow you to listen very accurately to inner auditory signals, and if you already had some tinnitus, you might start to notice it.
A few weeks into it I noticed a persistent ringing and I thought it was some sort of electrical wine in an old house. A week later I realized it was permanent so I cut out my sound cancelling sleep routine, but the tinnitus has stayed.
Whenever I do, I swear I feel increased pressure on my ears and my tinnitus temporarily gets worse. I've often wondered if I imagine it, but hearing from others here makes me think it isn't so strange.
Slight tinnitus here but had it for as long as I can remember.
1. Airpods or ANC
2. WFH ->. Less movement -> stiff muscles around neck and head -> head trasnfer frequencies changing
3. Covid vaccine
The same explanation goes for ANC - when you cut out all the noise, suddenly it’s way easier to notice the tinnitus you already had.
There might be something with the neck stiffness idea. I do get the feeling my tinnitus lessens when I’m using cervical traction and doing neck stretching regularly.
2. WFH -> Less movement -> Decreased blood flow can contribute to the onset of tinnitus.
Long exposure to high volumes causes hearing damage. Many people set volume on headsets too high to hear better.
3. Many people are diagnosed with tinnitus every day, and some are bound to have it discovered after a vaccine shot. In the same way, some people will have tinnitus discovered after COVID. That doesn’t yet prove causation.
It probably doesn’t cause tinnitus, but people grasp at straws about this kind of stuff.