UNWANTED NOISE
HIW,
Dear
I’ve been using noisecancelling headphones at work for a while as they are amazing for concentration. However, recently I frequently hear a high-pitched noise.
Can these headphones cause tinnitus?
Gregor Reeves
Active noise-cancelling headphones work to cancel out external noise by producing sound waves that are out of phase with sound waves from ambient noise. While loud noise can be a cause of tinnitus, noise-cancelling headphones aren’t to blame. Tinnitus is a side effect of hearing loss which causes a high-pitched ringing in the ears. If you use your headphones at a high volume, this could cause hearing loss and the resulting tinnitus. Noise cancelling itself won’t cause tinnitus, but make sure not to turn them up too loud. Because noisecancelling headphones block other noises, they can help to prevent tinnitus as they don’t need to be turned up as much in noisy environments.