Have you ever left your Earbuds in your pocket and they ended up going through the wash or maybe lost them altogether? Now it’s so boring going for a jog in the morning. You have a dull and dreary commute to work. And the audio quality of your virtual meetings suffers significantly.
Sometimes, you don’t realize how valuable something is until you’ve lost it (yes, we are not being subtle around here today).
So when you finally find or purchase a working set of earbuds, you’re grateful. Now your world is full of completely clear and vibrant sound, including music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Earbuds have so many uses other than listening to tunes and a large percentage of individuals utilize them.
But, unfortunately, earbuds can present some significant risks to your hearing because so many people are using them for so many listening tasks. If you’re wearing these devices all day every day, you could be putting your hearing in danger!
Earbuds are unique for numerous reasons
In previous years, you would require cumbersome, earmuff-style, headphones if you wanted a high-fidelity listening experience. All that has now changed. Contemporary earbuds can supply amazing sound in a very small space. They were popularized by smartphone manufacturers, who included a shiny new pair of earbuds with pretty much every smart device sold all through the 2010s (Presently, you don’t see that so much).
These little earbuds (sometimes they even have microphones) started to show up everywhere because they were so high-quality and available. Whether you’re out and about, or hanging out at home, earbuds are one of the leading ways you’re taking calls, viewing your favorite program, or listening to tunes.
Earbuds are practical in quite a few contexts because of their reliability, portability, and convenience. Lots of people use them basically all of the time consequently. That’s where things get a little tricky.
It’s all vibrations
This is the thing: Music, podcasts, voice calls, they’re all in essence the same thing. They’re simply air molecules being vibrated by waves of pressure. Your brain will then organize the vibrations into categories like “voice” or “music”.
Your inner ear is the mediator for this process. Inside of your ear are tiny little hairs known as stereocilia that oscillate when exposed to sound. These are not large vibrations, they’re very small. Your inner ear is what actually recognizes these vibrations. At this stage, you have a nerve in your ear that translates those vibrations into electrical impulses, and that’s what lets your brain figure it all out.
This is important because it’s not music or drums that cause hearing damage, it’s volume. So whether you’re listening to NPR or Death Metal, the risk is exactly the same.
The dangers of earbud use
The risk of hearing damage is widespread because of the popularity of earbuds. According to one study, over 1 billion young individuals are at risk of developing hearing loss across the globe.
On an individual level, when you use earbuds at high volume, you raise your risk of:
- Experiencing social isolation or mental decline as a result of hearing loss.
- Repeated subjection increasing the development of sensorineural hearing loss.
- Sensorineural hearing loss resulting in deafness.
- Needing to use a hearing aid in order to communicate with family and friends.
There’s some evidence suggesting that using earbuds may introduce greater risks than using conventional headphones. The idea here is that the sound is funneled directly toward the more sensitive components of your ear. But the jury’s still out on this, and not all audiologists are on board.
Either way, volume is the primary factor, and both kinds of headphones can create hazardous levels of that.
It isn’t just volume, it’s duration, also
Perhaps you think there’s a simple fix: While I’m binging all 24 episodes of my favorite streaming program, I’ll simply reduce the volume. Naturally, this would be a good plan. But there’s more to it than that.
This is because how long you listen is as significant as how loud it is. Think about it like this: listening at top volume for five minutes will harm your ears. But listening at medium volume for five hours might also damage your ears.
When you listen, here are a few ways to make it safer:
- If you are listening at 80% volume, listen for a maximum of 90 minutes, and if you want to listen longer turn down the volume.
- It’s a good plan not to go above 40% – 50% volume level.
- Some smart devices allow you to lower the max volume so you won’t even need to worry about it.
- Stop listening right away if you experience ringing in your ears or your ears start to ache.
- Enable volume warnings on your device. These warnings can let you know when your listening volume gets a bit too high. Once you hear this alert, it’s your task to lower the volume.
- Take regular breaks. It’s best to take frequent and extended breaks.
Your ears can be stressed by utilizing headphones, specifically earbuds. So give your ears a break. Because sensorineural hearing loss generally happens gradually over time not immediately. Which means, you may not even acknowledge it happening, at least, not until it’s too late.
There’s no cure and no way to reverse sensorineural hearing loss
Usually, NHIL, or noise-related hearing loss, is permanent. When the stereocilia (small hair-like cells in your ears that detect sound) get destroyed by overexposure to loud sound, they can never be restored.
The damage accumulates gradually over time, and it normally begins as very limited in scope. NHIL can be difficult to detect as a result. It may be getting slowly worse, in the meantime, you believe it’s just fine.
Sadly, NIHL can’t be cured or reversed. But strategies (hearing aids most notably) do exist that can minimize the impact sensorineural hearing loss can have. But the total damage that’s being done, unfortunately, is irreversible.
So the ideal plan is prevention
This is why prevention is stressed by so many hearing specialists. And there are multiple ways to reduce your risk of hearing loss, and to exercise good prevention, even while using your earbuds:
- Make routine visits with us to have your hearing checked. We will help establish the general health of your hearing by getting you screened.
- Many headphones and earbuds include noise-canceling technology, try to utilize those. This will mean you won’t have to crank the volume quite so loud so that you can hear your media clearly.
- When you’re listening to your devices, make use of volume-limiting apps.
- Use hearing protection if you’re going to be around loud noises. Use earplugs, for example.
- Control the amount of damage your ears are encountering while you’re not using earbuds. Avoid overly loud settings whenever you can.
- Change up the styles of headphones you’re using. Simply put, switch from earbuds to other kinds of headphones now and then. Over-the-ear headphones can also be sometimes used.
Preventing hearing loss, particularly NIHL, can help you safeguard your sense of hearing for years longer. And, if you do end up requiring treatment, like hearing aids, they will be more effective.
So… are earbuds the enemy?
So does all this mean you should grab your nearest set of earbuds and chuck them in the trash? Well, no. Especially not if you have those Apple AirPods, those little devices are expensive!
But your approach could need to be modified if you’re listening to your earbuds constantly. You may not even recognize that your hearing is being harmed by your earbuds. Being aware of the danger, then, is your best defense against it.
Step one is to moderate the volume and duration of your listening. The second step is to speak with us about the state of your hearing right away.
Think you may have damaged your hearing with earbuds? We can help! Get tested now!