Does wearing headphones damage your hearing?
Headphones have become the gateway to our devices and an integral part of how we listen to music. One has to ask, do the headphones induce hearing loss, or is it a scare tactic to get teenagers out of their earbuds?
Nowadays, it’s hard to listen to music without a headset. Most sound systems have not been able to handle the volume of certain tracks, so artists have discovered ways to work earbuds in their albums. Many songs sound special with or without headphones, and they may lack depth when emerging from speakers.
However, several studies suggest that earbuds induce hearing loss. This is not necessarily caused by using them. Like most products, headphones can be used inappropriately and can cause damage to our wellbeing. By using them too often and too clearly, we will irreparably damage our ability to hear. This is a primary concern for young people who listen to music too quickly and too often.
The risk of listening to loud music is not a new concept. Young people have been exposed to loud music for decades, going back to rock concerts more than 40 years ago. Thanks to these activities, mostly artists and enthusiastic groupies were difficult to hear. Nevertheless, where most adults still rarely watched noisy shows, young people often listen to loud music nearly every day. It refers to early-onset forms of NIHL or noise-induced hearing impairment.
How headphones damage your hearing?
Through embedding sound directly into your ears, the headphones enhance sound quality and enable people to listen to music in private. There’s no need for speakers to play the music loud, and you’re the only audience to the private show. Guitars have a clearer voice, more accurate voices, and features like surround sound are easily achieved. But this also leaves room for risk.
To avoid any vibrations, the brightness can be switched to dangerous levels. To give you an overview of how busy this is, let’s make a comparison. The bicycle engine works at 100 decibels, and the chainsaw performs at about the same speed. These are noisy, disturbing sounds that can damage our ears and trigger us to ring for hours afterward.
In contrast, a 70 percent quality music player performs sounds as noisy as 85 decibels. These sounds are played directly in your face, intensifying this effect. If you’re on a crowded bus or a plane, you turn up the volume to allow the music to stand out from the chaos of the crowd. If the background noise is 75 dB, you may be able to increase the level to 90 dB to hear it better. The thing is, the brain doesn’t know if you turn the volume up. The 90 dB ear is 90 dB.
What are the signs of hearing loss?
Generally, the form of hearing loss related to the use of the headset is incremental, progressive, and without obvious warning signs. The only way to truly detect hearing damage is through a hearing test and a medical examination.
However, if you or your infant encounter any of the following symptoms, Dr. Foy may promptly prescribe a doctor’s visit:
• scratching, ragging, hissing, or clicking in the ear.
• Difficulty in hearing a voice in noisy places or areas with bad acoustics.
• Muffled noises and a sense that your face is wired deep.
• Listening to a higher volume of TV or radio than in the past.
The threshold for Hearing Damage is 85 dB
Many doctors agree that 85 dB is the standard for hearing loss. After prolonged long-term listening to noises greater than or equal to 85 dB, you may expect to experience any hearing loss or tinnitus. So while you’d probably assume that 85 dB is “extremely loud,” there’s a good chance that you’re subject to noises that surpass the level every day. For e.g., lawnmowers and busy restaurants tend to produce around 90 dB of sound.
Don’t worry, a morning lawncare session or Applebee’s dinner won’t lead to hearing loss. Doctors agree that your ears can tolerate up to 8 hours of 85 dB radiation. But as you can guess, the auditory capacity declines as the noise intensity rises.
What Happens Past 85 dB ?
The speakers and the audio source inform you how noisy your music is. But across the board, virtually all variations of electronics, amplifiers, and headphones will reach far beyond the 85 dB mark. Many headphones may even have a rating of between 110 and 120 dB. At that volume level, the ears can tolerate about a minute of stimulation before the harm is caused. See, the interaction between the dB point and the noise resistance is not linear. Around 90 dB, four hours of exposure time will result in a permanent hearing loss. Go up to 95 dB, and the body can tolerate just two hours of viewing. Move it to 110 dB, so the body can only handle 1 minute and 29 seconds.
Is Headphones’ dB Level Measurable?
If you want to know whether your headphones or earbuds are above the 85 dB mark, you’re going to run into a bit of trouble. Measurement of the dB rating of your headphones is challenging.
Many dB meters are used to measure the noise of the area, such as a restaurant or a construction site. But the sound of the headphones and earbuds is designed to fire straight into your face, not into space. Therefore, if you want to use a dB meter with a pair of headphones, you have to put the headphones up against the meter. At most, you’re going to get a semi-precision test.
How can I prevent hearing loss?
Don’t panic; you don’t need to snip all of your headphone cords to avoid hearing loss. Ensuring you have a decent level will shield your ears a lot; restricting your use of these tools always helps.
It’s a smart move to use a headset with either strong passive or active noise cancellation. By can external noise, you can play music at a safe level and still hear it loud and clear. In fact, take time during the day to appreciate calm or background noise, and never sleep with music played through your headphones. Like other muscles, our ears are getting tired and need to rest. You need to take listening breaks, then, to cover the hearing. By reducing the intensity and preventing prolonged exposure, you will maintain a healthy interaction with music and lower your risk of NIHL and tinnitus.
When you suspect that you may already have a hearing loss, a hearing test may help you determine whether or not you need a professional diagnosis. Once you spend your money on an audiogram and a full review, consider utilizing online resources. Signia is conducting an electronic hearing test. Hearing loss is a condition that needs to be taken seriously, so finding something early will make it possible for you to get vital care. Hearing aids can encourage you to hear easily again, and early diagnosis will help you avoid the other dangers of hearing loss.
Do you need expensive headphones to protect your ears?
The Australian Hearing Hub advises that headphones should be used no more than 90 minutes a day, and the level should never reach 80%. A basic rule of thumb is that even if others can detect the sounds coming out of the headphones while you’re wearing them, they’re too noisy. And whether it’s death metal or classical music— what’s essential is the pace, so the length of your listening session.
We need to take some personal responsibility, but we also need to put the onus back on the headphone makers to come up with the right products.
The regular earbuds that come with your phone are all right — as long as you’re careful regarding noise.
Yet Professor McAlpine is not a fan of many of the chunky, over-eared headphones on the market, since they prioritize distortion, urging audiences to turn up the volume.
You’re supposed to think of buying those noise-cancellation headphones because they’re keeping you from growing the sound level of your music to get above the background noise.
Focus on Quality Instead of Volume
Most people listen to loud music just because they want to know every detail, not because they want their ears to bleed. If your headphones or earbuds sound like low-volume garbage, you might consider investing in some quality audio equipment.
While we’re on the topic of hardware, it’s crucial to note that a good pair of headphones will always produce higher quality sound compared to a good pair of earbuds.
How to wear earphones without damaging your hearing
1. Reduce the volume
According to the MRC Institute of Hearing Science in the United Kingdom, the average volume of music when wearing earphones is between 95-105 decibels. In an example, the regular voice talk is 60 decibels, while the thunder will exceed 120 decibels, which can destroy the ears in only 9 seconds.
A constant loud noise will kill the sensory cells in the ear. One of the signs of fatigue is a humming feeling. Nonetheless, frequently relaxing the ear will get rid of it.
2. Limit wearing duration to 1.5 hours at a time
Oregon Health and Science University, USA, confirmed that listening to music in earphones for 15 minutes at maximum volume would impair the ears. Loud sounds will permanently damage the cells of stereocilia, the small hairs responsible for delivering sound vibrations to the brain.
The practice of listening to loud music for a long time will dramatically impair someone’s hearing. The decline is demonstrated by the constant ringing in the ears and the need to increase the intensity of the recording in order to hear clearly.
3. Routinely clean the earphones
Based on research performed by Indian clinical microbiologists, 68 percent of earphones are home to bacteria. In comparison, the practice of lending earphones to others may also increase the risk of bacterial growth.
The existence of these bacteria can increase the risk of inflammation of the external ear canal known as otitis externa. This allows the ear to feel pain and distress, and it also produces pus-like smelly discharges.
What is the treatment for hearing loss?
Unfortunately, the form of hearing loss induced by overexposure to very loud noise is permanent, rendering avoidance imperative. Hearing aids and implants can help to enhance sounds and make it easier to hear, but they are simply compensating for impaired or unworkable sections of the head.
You might wanna read:
