Recently I started a job that has me using a headset with ANC (active noise cancellation). It was OK for the first week or two but then I noticed my head hurt. My ears felt full and I had ringing in my ears that was quite loud. I have mild (self-diagnosed) tinnitus but this was beyond that by a significant amount.

I'm aware of how noise cancelling technology works it's by creating an opposing sound wave of equivalent energy to nullify the unwanted sound wave.

My theory is when I am off a call and I have the headset on my head with ANC enabled it's working to cancel the background noise. It's only needed on a call but it's obviously on all the time. These are not cheap headphones I've seen them for $300 so not cheap but I'm sure not the highest end.

I've tried taking them off, put around my neck, on my head between calls. But a few times I've fumbled them and hung up on someone or picked up before I was ready. My solution was to turn off ANC which made the sound clearer and my ears don't ring as bad as with ANC on.

My own anecdotal evidence but there is an obvious effect on my ears. I was about to go to the doctor the ringing was getting so bad.

Huh, they don’t have an “off” more for noise cancellation? I read a review of the airpods max and they have three settings: on, transparency, off. The last one has to be enabled in settings.

I am assuming this is a fairly common feature for headphones? If so you might be able to switch models to one that has an off mode, if yours don’t.

Try IEM's.

WARNING:

IEM seal the ear canal causing a build up of moisture and ear wax that can lead to infection in some people.

Try getting an employer to fork out for IEMs when $300 headphones “do the job”.

You can get a decent set for about a hundred bucks.

Shure SE215 is less than a hundred!

That said, like with most IEMs, sleeves should be replaced sometimes (probably once a month or if you get any dirt on them—be careful with handling and don’t let that stuff get into your ear canal), so that should be factored in the price.

Which sleeves you choose makes a big difference—they are more or less the noise isolation part of IEMs, and they make or break your comfort when wearing. I swear by the combination of SE215 + Shure’s original black foam sleeves (or, if those cannot be obtained, Westone’s foam eartips). Passive noise isolation in this setup is better than ANC in AirPods Pro for me subjectively (although according to rtings.com’s measurements they go head to head), and is easy to wear for long periods of time.

(I guess I’m replying to thepostoffice but for the most part this is addressed to dghughes’s upstream post.)

IEM = In-Ear-Monitors?

Yup.

Since my son has been remote learning at a desk next to mine I've been wearing noise cancelling headphones a great deal.

The skin around ears have been super sensitive due to what I assume is just the natural heat build up from wearing headphones and pressure on skin not used to having pressure on it all the time. The skin is raw and irritated.

It's not terrible, but not comfortable for sure and has been limiting how much I can wear any over the ear or even on the ear headphones.

Huh, as another commenter said, some people are just more susceptible than others but I've worn headphones for many hours a day to no ill effect. There should be no clamping pressure on the ears, the weight should be on the headband. Might be worth looking at different options. Over-ear vs On-ear can make a difference.

Might try different pairs. My cans for recording are HD180s, pretty standard and they really squeese your head.

My bose quiet comfort are comfortable for maybe an hour or two before i even notice I am wearing them.

From there small in ear with noise cancelling can be good

If your ears stick out or are bigger you should really go to a best buy or music shop or whatever and try on cans until you find ones that fit

If you are able to afford it, I've found the more expensive noise canceling headphones to be dramatically better, softer and more comfortable for long wearing. I'm def not an audiophile, so I'm more talking comfort than anything else... The one I've been really impressed with is the Bose Quietcomfort 35 II. They're usually $300 but often on sale on Amazon for $200.

+1 on those. I’ve probably been wearing mine for 14 hours per day since March with, AFAICT, no adverse effects.

Yeah, I sold my sennheiser HD6XX for a pair of Bose QCs. It’s just so much more comfortable.

I suspect the article is referring to things like bruising from tight fitting earcups or maybe muscle strain from the weight of the headset, not something specifically related to the noise canceling function (except perhaps from excess noise caused by ANC circuit malfunction that might cause a temporary threshold shift)

Aftermarket options can be purchased to mitigate discomfort from ear protection equipment.

The Sightlines Gel Ear Pads from NoiseFighters is a popular option for earcup replacement.

The IceVents Classic Ventilated Headband from Qore Performance is a popular option for headband replacement.

This is somewhat the pink elephant in the room when it comes to ANC. Last year lots of people complained about a simultaneaous reduction of ANC across several brands and models brought with firmware updates. One suspicion was that Bose, Sony, Apple have some info about possible damage from ANC and did this to avoid liability. I'm wearing ANC headphones up to 12 hours a day now for 5 years. I didn't experience any damage as far as I can tell but I am worried about it. There are several possible ways how wearing ANC headphones that long might cause damage. The build up of relative humidity might for example promote infections. But the big question is if the ANC itself might cause damage. As far as I know there are no conclusive studies on that.

> Last year lots of people complained about a simultaneaous reduction of ANC across several brands and models brought with firmware updates.

Was this ever verified quantitatively? It sounds like the kind of thing that could easily be generated by group confirmation bias.

I practice a grappling martial art. If you bruise the tissue in your ear too much small pockets of fluid can form between your ear and the cartilage. If this fluid is not drained and the ear kept compressed it can harden forming cauliflower ear, deforming the ear. Some people are more susceptible to it than others. I imagine that would be a worst case injury. I don’t know of this happening with headphones, but it seems plausible.

I don't understand either. In fact, active noise cancelling pilot headsets are usually more comfortable and less tight fitting. This is because by being noise cancelling, these can get away with lighter passive noise isolation.

The only kind of injury I can think of is related to being less aware of your surroundings.

I'd love to learn more about this too!

I wear Sennheiser HD1 M2's (with ANC) for ~8h/day, 5d/week, and have been for over 2 years -- with no discomfort or unwanted side- or after-effects. Ofc I'm careful about volume level, and I take frequent breaks from both screen and headphones (albeit for the sake of my eyes). I'm a healthy 47yo software architect by trade, also a lifelong musician and music afficionado. I care about -- and for! -- my ears and hearing, and would be grateful for any good links to credible sources (ie peer-reviewed scientific studies) which highlight hidden dangers or damage.

Likewise, some sources for audio damage from noise canceling would be great. I wear headphones 8+ hours a day for work. Around two months ago I upgraded my 10-year-old (cheap, wired) Sennheisers to some mid-range wireless ones with noise canceling, they're a bit heavier but otherwise just as comfortable and noise canceling is awesome for helping me focus. I've never had any negative effects from either (although I'm careful to keep the volume down).

I read a theory suggesting that eardrum fatigue is the reason. ANC does not hurt us even if it is loud. We are hearing a sound but not a ”real” one, but our eardrums still vibrate a lot. The thinking is that high level ANC is as fatigue inducing to eardrums as prolonged music listening. That’s why I nowadays recommend to friends to not use ANC on its own for too long daily.

I've been looking on and off for a pair of ANC earmuffs for factory work, but reports that some people experience headaches combined with the pretty high price have caused me to keep putting off the purchase.