Have you ever misplaced your earbuds? (Or, maybe, unintentionally left them in the pocket of a sweatshirt that went through the washer and dryer?) All of a sudden, your morning jog is so much more boring. Your commute or bus ride is dreary and dull. And your virtual meetings are suffering from bad sound quality.
The old saying “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” applies here.
So you’re so happy when you finally get a working pair of earbuds. The world is instantly vibrant again, full of music, podcasts, and crystal clear sound. Earbuds are everywhere right now, and people utilize them for so much more than just listening to their favorite songs (though, obviously, they do that too).
But, unfortunately, earbuds can present some substantial risks to your hearing because so many people are using them for so many listening activities. If you’re wearing these devices all day every day, you might be putting your hearing at risk!
Why earbuds are unique
It used to be that if you wanted high-quality audio from a set of headphones, you’d have to use a bulky, cumbersome pair of over-the-ear cans (yes, “cans” is jargon for headphones). That’s all now changed. Contemporary earbuds can supply stunning sound in a very small space. They were made popular by smartphone manufacturers, who provided a shiny new pair of earbuds with basically every smartphone sold throughout the 2010s (At present, you don’t find that as much).
Partly because these sophisticated earbuds (with microphones, even) were so readily available, they started showing up everywhere. Whether you’re talking on the phone, listening to tunes, or watching Netflix, earbuds are one of the chief ways to do that (whether you are on the go or not).
It’s that mixture of convenience, mobility, and dependability that makes earbuds useful in a wide variety of contexts. Consequently, many people use them pretty much all the time. That’s where things get a bit tricky.
Vibrations are what it’s all about
This is the thing: Music, podcasts, voice calls, they’re all essentially the same thing. They’re just waves of moving air molecules. It’s your brain that does all the heavy lifting of interpreting those vibrations, grouping one kind of vibration into the “music” category and another into the “voice” category.
In this endeavor, your brain receives a big assist from your inner ear. Inside of your ear are very small hairs known as stereocilia that vibrate when exposed to sound. These are not big vibrations, they’re tiny. Your inner ear is what really recognizes these vibrations. At this stage, there’s a nerve in your ear that translates those vibrations into electrical signals, and that’s what lets your brain figure it all out.
This is significant 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.
What are the dangers of using earbuds?
Because of the appeal of earbuds, the risk of hearing damage as a result of loud noise is very prevalent. According to one study, over 1 billion young individuals are at risk of developing hearing loss across the globe.
Using earbuds can raise your risk of:
- Repeated subjection increasing the development of sensorineural hearing loss.
- Advancing deafness due to sensorineural hearing loss.
- Not being capable of communicating with your family and friends without wearing a hearing aid.
- Going through social isolation or cognitive decline as a result of hearing loss.
There’s some evidence suggesting that using earbuds may present greater risks than using conventional headphones. The idea here is that the sound is directed toward the more sensitive components of your ear. Some audiologists think this is the case while others still aren’t convinced.
Either way, volume is the primary consideration, and both kinds of headphones can create hazardous levels of that.
Duration is also a concern besides volume
Perhaps you think there’s a simple 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 help. But there’s more to it than that.
The reason is that it’s not just the volume that’s the issue, it’s the duration. Think about it like this: listening at max volume for five minutes will harm your ears. But listening at medium volume for five hours could also damage your ears.
When you listen, here are a few ways to make it safer:
- Give yourself lots of breaks. The more breaks (and the longer duration they are), the better.
- If you are listening at 80% volume, listen for a max of 90 minutes, and if you want to listen longer turn the volume down.
- Quit listening right away if you experience ringing in your ears or your ears start to hurt.
- As a basic rule of thumb, only listen to your media at 40-50% volume.
- Make sure that your device has volume level alerts turned on. These warnings can alert you when your listening volume gets a bit too high. Of course, then it’s your job to lower your volume, but it’s better than nothing!
- If you don’t want to worry about it, you might even be able to change the maximum volume on your smart device.
Earbuds specifically, and headphones generally, can be kind of stressful for your ears. So give your ears a break. After all, sensorineural hearing loss doesn’t (usually) happen suddenly; it progresses gradually and over time. The majority of the time people don’t even realize that it’s happening until it’s too late.
There is no cure and no way to reverse sensorineural hearing loss
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (or NIHL) is typically permanent. That’s because it’s sensorineural in nature (meaning, the cells in your ear become irreparably damaged due to noise).
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 slowly worse, in the meantime, you believe it’s perfectly fine.
Sadly, NIHL can’t be cured or reversed. However, there are treatments created to offset and decrease some of the most considerable effects of sensorineural hearing loss (the most popular of such treatments is a hearing aid). These treatments, however, can’t reverse the damage that’s been done.
This means prevention is the best approach
That’s why so many hearing specialists place a considerable focus on prevention. And there are a number of ways to decrease your risk of hearing loss, and to exercise good prevention, even while listening to your earbuds:
- Use volume-restricting apps on your phone and other devices.
- Use multiple types of headphones. That is, don’t use earbuds all day every day. Over-the-ear headphones can also be sometimes used.
- Make regular visits with us to get your hearing tested. We will be able to help you get assessed and monitor the general health of your hearing.
- Use hearing protection if you’re going to be around loud noises. Use earplugs, for instance.
- When you’re not wearing your earbuds, reduce the amount of noise damage your ears are subjected to. This could mean paying extra attention to the sound of your environment or avoiding overly loud scenarios.
- Some headphones and earbuds include noise-canceling technology, try to use those. With this feature, you will be able to hear your media more clearly without needing to crank it up quite so loud.
You will be able to preserve your sense of hearing for many years by taking steps to prevent hearing loss, especially NHIL. It can also help make treatments such as hearing aids more effective when you do eventually need them.
So… are earbuds the enemy?
Well…should I just chuck my earbuds in the garbage? Well, no. Not at all! Brand-name earbuds can get costly.
But your strategy may need to be modified if you’re listening to your earbuds constantly. You might not even realize 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 control the volume and duration of your listening. Step two is to talk to us about the state of your hearing today.
Think you may have damaged your hearing with earbuds? We can help! Get assessed now!