Are You Experiencing Ringing in Your Ears? Apple Wants to Know

More than 77% of people in an Apple study have dealt with tinnitus at some point. That’s when you hear something ringing or buzzing in your ears that no one else can hear. About 15% say it’s a daily struggle.

The University of Michigan researchers have been digging into this since 2019, using Apple’s Research app. They’ve got over 160,000 people spilling the beans about their hearing. The aim? To see how using headphones and being around loud sounds affects our ears, and maybe come up with new ways to manage tinnitus.

Rick Neitzel, a professor at the University of Michigan, says these insights can help pinpoint who’s most at risk and guide efforts to reduce the impact of tinnitus.

Tinnitus isn’t rare. In fact, around 10% of US adults deal with it, according to a statement given by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).

The causes of tinnitus are evolving. It used to be mostly about noisy jobs. Now, it’s more about recreational noise—like blasting music through headphones, going to concerts, or noisy sports events. Especially in cities, your biggest noise exposure might be from your own headphones. Apple gadgets, like iPods and iPhones, have definitely played a role in this.

No shocker, “noise trauma” (fancy talk for being around super loud noises) is the top cause of tinnitus, according to the study. About 10% of the people said it messes with their hearing clarity. The older you get, the longer those tinnitus episodes last. For example, almost 36% of folks 55 and up have constant tinnitus, compared to 14.7% of all adults. Many people cope by using noise machines or listening to natural sounds.

The study aims to help create new products to improve hearing and reduce the chance of hearing loss. Apple even promotes features like the Noise app on the Apple Watch, which alerts you when sounds around you are too loud.

This hearing study is one of three ongoing Apple Research projects (the other two focus on heart health and menstrual cycles). To join, you need to be an adult living in the US. You don’t have to use Apple headphones unless you’re doing specific exercises calibrated for Apple’s AirPods or EarPods.