Have you ever lost your earbuds? (Or, perhaps, inadvertently left them in the pocket of a pullover that went through the laundry?) Suddenly, your morning jog is so much more boring. Your commute or bus ride is dreary and dull. 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 pair of earbuds, you’re thankful. Now your life is full of perfectly clear and vibrant audio, including music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Earbuds are everywhere right now, and people utilize them for a lot more than just listening to their favorite music (though, obviously, they do that too).
Unfortunately, in part because they are so easy and so widely used, earbuds present some significant risks for your hearing. Your hearing might be at risk if you’re using earbuds a lot every day.
Earbuds are unique for numerous reasons
It used to be that if you wanted high-quality sound from a pair of headphones, you’d have to adopt a bulky, cumbersome set of over-the-ear cans (yes, “cans” is slang for headphones). That’s all now changed. Awesome sound quality can be created in a really small space with contemporary earbuds. They were popularized by smartphone makers, who included a shiny new pair of earbuds with basically every smartphone sold all through the 2010s (amusing enough, they’re pretty rare nowadays when you purchase a new phone).
These little earbuds (frequently they even include microphones) began showing up everywhere because they were so high-quality and accessible. Whether you’re talking on the phone, listening to tunes, or watching movies, earbuds are one of the primary ways to do that (whether you are on the go or not).
It’s that mixture of convenience, mobility, and reliability that makes earbuds useful in a large number of contexts. Lots of people use them basically all of the time as a result. That’s where things get a bit challenging.
It’s all vibrations
In essence, phone calls, music, or podcasts are all the same. They’re just waves of vibrating air molecules. It’s your brain that does all the work 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. There are tiny hairs inside of your ear that oscillate when exposed to sound. These vibrations are infinitesimal, they’re tiny. These vibrations are recognized by your inner ear. At this stage, there’s a nerve in your ear that converts 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. Which means the risk is equivalent whether you’re listening to Death Metal or an NPR podcast.
What are the dangers of using earbuds?
Because of the popularity of earbuds, the risk of hearing damage due to loud noise is fairly prevalent. According to one study, over 1 billion young individuals are at risk of developing hearing loss across the globe.
Using earbuds can increase your risk of:
- Developing deafness caused by sensorineural hearing loss.
- Not being able to communicate with your friends and family without using a hearing aid.
- Continued exposure increasing the advancement of sensorineural hearing loss.
- Going through social isolation or cognitive decline as a consequence of hearing loss.
There’s some evidence suggesting that using earbuds may introduce greater risks than using regular headphones. The reason may be that earbuds move sound right to the most sensitive components of the ear. But the jury’s still out on this, and not all audiologists are on board.
Either way, volume is the biggest consideration, and both kinds of headphones can deliver hazardous levels of that.
It’s not only volume, it’s duration, also
You might be thinking, well, the solution is easy: I’ll simply lower the volume on my earbuds as I binge my new favorite show for 24 episodes straight. Well… that would be helpful. But it might not be the complete solution.
This is because how long you listen is as important as how loud it is. Think about it like this: listening at max 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 some ways to keep it safer:
- If your ears start to experience pain or ringing, immediately stop listening.
- Take frequent breaks. It’s best to take regular and lengthy breaks.
- Use the 80/90 rule: Listen at 80% volume for no more than 90 minutes. (Want more minutes? Reduce the volume.)
- It’s a good plan not to go above 40% – 50% volume level.
- Enable volume alerts on your device. If your listening volume goes too high, a warning will alert you. Naturally, then it’s your job to adjust your volume, but it’s better than nothing!
- Many smart devices let you decrease the max volume so you won’t even have to worry about it.
Earbuds specifically, and headphones generally, can be kind of stressful for your ears. So give your ears a break. Because sensorineural hearing loss generally occurs gradually over time not suddenly. Which means, you might not even observe it occurring, at least, not until it’s too late.
There is no cure and no way to reverse sensorineural hearing loss
Typically, 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 is barely noticeable, particularly in the early stages, and progresses gradually over time. That can make NIHL difficult to detect. It may be getting slowly worse, in the meantime, you believe it’s just fine.
There is currently no cure or ability to reverse NIHL. Still, there are treatments created to offset and decrease some of the most significant 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.
So the best strategy is prevention
This is why prevention is emphasized by so many hearing specialists. Here are several ways to keep listening to your earbuds while decreasing your risk of hearing loss with good prevention practices:
- Many headphones and earbuds incorporate 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 as loud.
- Use hearing protection if you’re going to be around loud noises. Ear plugs, for example, work remarkably well.
- Getting your hearing tested by us regularly is a good plan. We will help determine the general health of your hearing by getting you screened.
- Change up the types of headphones you’re wearing. Simply put, switch from earbuds to other types of headphones now and then. Try utilizing over-the-ear headphones as well.
- When you’re using your devices, make use of volume-limiting apps.
- When you’re not wearing your earbuds, reduce the amount of noise damage your ears are subjected to. Avoid overly loud environments whenever possible.
You will be able to protect your sense of hearing for many years by taking actions to prevent hearing loss, especially NHIL. And, if you do end up needing treatment, like hearing aids, they will be more effective.
So… are earbuds the enemy?
So does all this mean you should find your nearest set of earbuds and chuck them in the trash? Not Exactly! Not at all! Brand-name earbuds can get expensive.
But your approach may need to be modified if you’re listening to your earbuds constantly. These earbuds could be harming your hearing and you may not even notice it. Being aware of the danger, then, is your best defense against it.
Step one is to control the volume and duration of your listening. But speaking with us about the state of your hearing is the next step.
Think you might have damaged your hearing with earbuds? We can help! Get tested now!