In today's world, headphones play an important role. They are used by different age groups for all sorts of purposes - entertainment (listening to music), education, and communication. People use headphones at home, at work, on public transport and in other places. But is such an invention safe and can it influence a person's hearing? Those who practically do not part with such a convenient addition of gadgets, it would be useful to know about the harm of headphones.
Contents:
The design differences of headphones
All headphones are classified by design:
- in-ear (earmolds);
- vacuum (in-canal);
- overhead;
- full-size;
- monitor.
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Absolutely all models of headphones have an impact on a person's hearing, but the degree of impact can be different. The clear leaders in this matter are in-ear and vacuum headphones. And the most harmful are considered to be the in-canal. They "seal" the entire ear canal and provide reliable isolation from external noise. At the same time the sound vibrations from the earphones are directed straight to the eardrum and have the maximum impact on it.
Over-the-ear headphones of the closed type are considered safer, because they are much further away from the funnel separating the ear canal from the middle ear. And they also provide good protection from outside noise, but need to be turned up to maximum volume. Deafaudologists do not recommend listening at high volume for more than 120 minutes a day either.
Any noise that exceeds 80 decibels adversely affects the inner ear. If you have been using in-ear headphones constantly for 5 years, there is a high probability of experiencing noticeable hearing loss.
What happens to the ears
Ear physiology only protects against occasional loud sounds. If there is prolonged exposure to high decibels, however, hearing is guaranteed to be reduced.
After an occasional high decibel exposure, the hairs covering the cochlea (the spiral-shaped organ of the inner ear) recover fairly easily, and the hearing loss is temporary and insignificant.
There are special muscles in the ear that tense during strong sound vibrations and limit the movement of the auditory ossicles. In this way, they protect particularly sensitive hearing cells. But these muscle fibers cannot withstand loud sounds for a long time.
If they are exposed for more than 60 minutes, their defense mechanism is significantly weakened. Therefore, listening to loud music for many hours a day will inevitably reduce hearing acuity.
When the hairs covering the cochlea are exposed to systematic and prolonged noise, the hairs are more severely damaged and cannot be regenerated.
Otolaryngologists and surdologists state that geriatric hearing changes start at the age of 30. But prolonged exposure to high decibels guarantees a sad prognosis at an earlier age.
Exposure to prolonged and intense noises causes patients to develop subjective tinnitus. This is a specific ringing or intrusive tinnitus (sound reminiscent of a bell ringing) heard only by that patient. Patients in their 30s and 40s often come to otolaryngologists with this complaint.
Tinnitus is not a terminal pathology, but in most cases it is the beginning of a dynamic decline in hearing acuity. Bad habits, constant stress, reduced immunity can accelerate this process.
Hearing care instructions
Noise levels of 40-60 decibels are considered safe for the ear. In this range is normal conversational speech. But this does not mean that users will now completely abandon headphones. So that they do not provoke hearing loss, it is enough to observe some precautions:
1. Avoid using any headphones, but especially vacuum headphones, for more than 60 minutes in a row and more than 120 minutes a day.
2. Try not to exceed a volume threshold of more than 60 decibels. Typically, this is about 60% of the player's capacity.
3. Audiologists and otolaryngologists recommend abandoning vacuum headphones in favor of earbuds, since the former can not only provoke hearing loss, but also irritation and inflammation of the skin of the auditory canal. Especially this kind of headphones are not suitable for allergic and diabetic people.
4. If you want to enjoy surround sound music through headphones, it is useful to refrain from drinking alcohol at this time, as alcoholic beverages increase the harmful effects of loud sounds on human hearing.
5. The volume of music should not be increased to drown out public transport, otherwise the critical 80 decibel mark will be left far behind and the hearing organ will suffer irreparable damage.
Headphones are a very useful invention, but to protect your hearing, regardless of the model used, you need to learn how to use them properly.
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