Have you ever left your Earbuds in your pocket and they ended up going through the laundry or maybe lost them altogether? Suddenly, your morning jog is so much more boring. Your commute or train ride is dreary and dull. And the audio quality of your virtual meetings suffers substantially.
Often, you don’t grasp 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. The world is instantly dynamic again, full of music, podcasts, and crystal clear sound. Earbuds are everywhere right now, and individuals use them for so much more than simply listening to their favorite tunes (though, naturally, they do that too).
But, unfortunately, earbuds can present some considerable risks to your hearing because so many people use them for so many listening activities. Your hearing might be in danger if you’re wearing earbuds a lot every day.
Earbuds are different for several reasons
In the past, you would need cumbersome, earmuff-style, headphones if you wanted a high-quality listening experience. That’s not always the case now. Contemporary earbuds can supply amazing sound in a tiny space. They were popularized by smartphone manufacturers, who included a shiny new pair of earbuds with pretty much every smart device sold throughout the 2010s (funny enough, they’re pretty rare nowadays when you purchase a new phone).
These little earbuds (sometimes they even have microphones) began showing up all over the place because they were so high-quality and accessible. Whether you’re out and about, or spending time at home, earbuds are one of the leading ways you’re taking calls, viewing your favorite show, or listening to music.
Earbuds are practical in quite a few contexts because of their reliability, portability, and convenience. As a result, many consumers use them almost all the time. That’s where things get a little tricky.
Vibrations are what it’s all about
In essence, phone calls, music, or podcasts are all the same. They’re simply air molecules being moved by waves of pressure. It’s your brain that does all the heavy lifting of interpreting those vibrations, organizing one kind of vibration into the “music” category and another into the “voice” category.
In this endeavor, your brain gets a big assist from your inner ear. There are very small hairs inside of your ear that vibrate when exposed to sound. These vibrations are minute, they’re tiny. Your inner ear is what really recognizes these vibrations. Your brain makes sense of these vibrations after they are transformed into electrical signals by a nerve in your ear.
It’s not what kind of sound but volume that results in hearing loss. So whether you’re listening to NPR or Death Metal, the risk is the same.
The dangers of earbud use
Because of the appeal of earbuds, the risk of hearing damage as a result of loud noise is fairly prevalent. 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 utilize earbuds at high volume, you increase your danger of:
- Hearing loss contributing to mental decline and social isolation.
- Needing to use a hearing aid in order to communicate with friends and loved ones.
- Developing sensorineural hearing loss with continued exposure.
- Sensorineural hearing loss resulting in deafness.
There’s some evidence to suggest that using earbuds might present greater risks than using regular 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 convinced.
Either way, volume is the principal consideration, and both kinds of headphones can create hazardous levels of that.
Duration is also a concern besides volume
Maybe you think there’s an easy solution: I’ll just lower the volume on my earbuds as I binge my new favorite program for 24 episodes in a row. Well… that would be helpful. But it may not be the total solution.
The reason is that it’s not simply the volume that’s the issue, it’s the duration. 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.
So here’s how you can be somewhat safer when you listen:
- Give yourself lots of breaks. It’s best to take frequent and extended breaks.
- If you don’t want to worry about it, you may even be able to change the maximum volume on your smart device.
- Use the 80/90 rule: Listen at 80% volume for no more than 90 minutes. (Want more minutes? Reduce the volume.)
- Be certain that your device has volume level warnings turned on. If your listening volume goes too high, a notification will alert you. Once you hear this alert, it’s your task to reduce the volume.
- If your ears begin to experience pain or ringing, immediately quit listening.
- As a basic rule of thumb, only listen to your media at 40-50% volume.
Earbuds specifically, and headphones generally, can be pretty stressful for your ears. So give your ears a break. After all, sensorineural hearing loss doesn’t (typically) happen suddenly; it occurs gradually and over time. Most of the time people don’t even detect that it’s occurring until it’s too late.
There is no cure and no way to reverse sensorineural hearing loss
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (or NIHL) is usually permanent. When the stereocilia (small hair-like cells in your ears that detect sound) get damaged by overexposure to loud sound, they can never be restored.
The damage builds up slowly over time, and it usually starts as very limited in scope. That can make NIHL difficult to recognize. It might be getting progressively worse, all the while, you think it’s just fine.
There is presently no cure or capability of reversing NIHL. Still, there are treatments designed to mitigate and reduce some of the most considerable effects of sensorineural hearing loss (the most prevalent of such treatments is a hearing aid). But the general damage that’s being done, unfortunately, is irreversible.
So the ideal strategy is prevention
This is why prevention is emphasized by so many hearing specialists. Here are several ways to continue to listen to your earbuds while lowering your risk of hearing loss with good prevention practices:
- Getting your hearing checked by us routinely is a smart plan. We will be able to help you get assessed and track the general health of your hearing.
- When you’re listening to your devices, use volume-limiting apps.
- If you do have to go into an extremely loud environment, utilize ear protection. Ear plugs, for instance, work exceptionally well.
- Use multiple kinds of headphones. Simply put, switch from earbuds to other types of headphones once in a while. Over-the-ear headphones can also be sometimes used.
- Limit the amount of damage your ears are experiencing while you are not using earbuds. This could mean paying extra attention to the sound of your environment or steering clear of overly loud scenarios.
- Use earbuds and headphones that incorporate noise-canceling tech. This will mean you won’t have to turn the volume quite so high so that you can hear your media clearly.
You will be able to protect your sense of hearing for many years by taking actions to prevent hearing loss, especially NHIL. It can also help make treatments such as hearing aids more effective when you do ultimately need them.
So… are earbuds the enemy?
Well…should I just throw my earbuds in the garbage? Not Exactly! Particularly not if you have those Apple AirPods, those little gizmos are expensive!
But it does mean that, if you’re listening to earbuds on a regular basis, you might want to think about changing your approach. You might not even realize that your hearing is being damaged by your earbuds. Your best defense, then, is being aware of the danger.
Step one is to moderate the volume and duration of your listening. But speaking with us about the state of your hearing is the next step.
Think you may have damaged your hearing with earbuds? We can help! Get assessed now!
