Headphones, Good or Bad for your hearing?

Do Headphones increase hearing loss?

With the rapid rate that digital music players are selling, headphone use seems to be as casual as talking on ones cell phone. People seem to be jamming out tracks from their favorite artists all day long, which I am guilty of taking listening pleasures to the extreme. Almost everyone who owns a digital music player will tell you that they can be very addictive at all times.This is a wide epidemic that I’ve noticed around campus especially. So what’s all the fuss about these players then?
The portability and convenience of an mp3 player has driven just about everybody out to buy one. What about those appealing white ear-buds that seem to be hanging from the ears of just about everyone. There is nothing wrong with my I Pod right?
That statement may seem to hold truth to the masses that walk leisurely with white ear-buds all day long, but I’ve gathered some facts on headphones that will surely make listeners more cautious when considering how to listen to music. The vastly popular white headphones may be a bit more dangerous than anyone would seem to care about.
For instance, lets consider the time period we listen to headphones. I listen to headphones for a good hour and a half to two hours at the most. I see many people who enjoy full day listening experiences opposed to just when your working out.The tricky part is that there is no way to tell until you actually start having symptoms. Ever heard of noise-induced hearing loss? This is losing the ability to hear higher frequencies, evidenced by ear ringing and trouble hearing in noisy situations. So, if your ears seem to be ringing more than usual, it is possible that you have damaged your ears due to headphones. Also, leaving noisy concerts with your ears ringing is an obvious sign that you have damaged your ears according to doctors.
Early Walkman user's suffer from tinnitus, which is an internal ringing or buzzing in the ears.
So are headphones all to blame when hearing loss occurs? Mostly yes although there are many other factors to consider when hearing loss occurs. In fact, hearing damage from headphones may be more common than that of loud speakers or worldly sounds: busses, trucks, people, etc. This is because headphones like the ipod ear-buds are placed directly into ones ears and most of the time blasting at high volumes. Put that in combination with long hours of listening and you may be in trouble in years to come.
Recently, I was researching a website called, “headwize” and I found out some interesting details that have to do with the hearing process. First, sound travels down the ear canal and causes the eardrum to vibrate. Then, inside the middle ear, a bone attached to the eardrum vibrates with the eardrum and propagates sound waves through the middle ear by way of two other ear bones, which amplify the sound. This means that in-ear buds like the popular white headphones are sending through massive amounts of waves, which can be harmful due to the amplified sound by our ear bones. Furthermore, exposure to impulsive or impact noise should not exceed 140 db peak sound pressure level. Apples I pod have a volume setting that exceeds 115 db, which would seem to be harmful if listening for long amounts of time. High volumes are a factor that I will stress because it too puts stress on the ear especially over long periods of time. Keeping your music player’s volume to a minimum low to medium setting seems to be the way to go avoiding higher levels of volume.
Earmuff style headphones appear to be safer than in-ear buds.In-ear buds are placed snuggly into the ear and can boost the sound signal by as much as six to nine decibels. Again, this is because ear-bud style headphones give off a more intense sound being that they are placed firmly into the ear. If you aren’t aware, muff style headphones are the ones, which usually have some sort of headband to keep them on. I would confidently say that muff style headphones are safer as well as more comfortable. Additionally, muff style headphones aren’t placed directly into the ears but rest on them instead. Limiting headphone use to an hour a day and at levels below 60% of the maximum volume is a smart setting for your mp3 player.
Limiting use, appropriate sound level settings, and earmuff headphones are key to preventing hearing loss. So, there is nothing wrong with having a digital music player as long as you manage one well with those three simple rules. Nobody wants to be victims of noise-induced hearing loss or tinnitus right? Well, then keep volume below 60% of the max, limit use to one hour and a half max, and get rid of your white ear-buds for some fresh new earmuffs. We can all enjoy our music without any worries if we follow the best possible steps for our hearing health, so don’t toss out your I Pods just yet.



Joey Sanchez