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Headphones are a primary source of hearing damage. In this post we’ll talk about how to prevent hearing damage from headphones.
There was a time when only elderly people used to complain about hearing loss. Well, today, the scenario has changed completely. Studies have proven that hearing ring related issues have become very common among kids and teenagers. Shocking News, right.
This revelation has caught immediate attention from various health organizations, including WHO. It has been found that our harmful and unsafe listening habits are the major reason behind increasing hearing damage cases.
Headphones are a Primary Source of Hearing Damage
One of the most common harmful habits is excessive and unsafe use of headphones. People are using headphones while traveling, jogging, workout sessions, waiting in the queue, etc. Though they found it quite convenient, one thing that they don’t realize is that this is causing damage to their ears.
Let us understand how the use of headphones can damage our hearing and how to prevent hearing damage from headphones.
The Ear
Our ear has around eighteen thousand cilia. These tiny hair cells are responsible for transmitting sound. Usage of earbuds or headphones for too long, too often or at very high-volume damages these cells. The worst thing is, once damaged or dead, cilia cells cannot be regenerated. This means once they are dead, they are gone forever. Loss of these cells results in hearing-related problems.
Our headphones have become a part of our daily life. We use them while talking on our mobile phones and for listening to music, videos, games, etc. We can’t abandon it, and we also want to protect our ears. So, what is the solution?
How to Prevent Hearing Damage from Headphones
You can continue using your headphones, but you should be aware of the safety guidelines associated with them. The following are some essential safety measures that you may use to avoid hearing damage.
Decrease the Volume
85-decibels is the threshold limit of the sound that is acceptable to our ears. Any sound more than this may result in permanent hearing loss. It is advisable to not to listen to music above 60% of the maximum volume of your system.
Another tip to check whether the sound of the music in your headphones is within the safe limit or not. Normally, the conversation takes place at about 60-decibels. So, if you are talking to someone while listening to music on your headphones and you need to raise your volume, then it’s a signal that you should lower the volume of the system.
Avoid Cheap Headphones
In most cases, low or medium quality headphones have poor sound quality. As a result, they fail to transmit the bass efficiently. Moreover, cheap headphones fail to block the outside noise. To overcome these issues, the listener increases the volume without realizing that it is going beyond the acceptable limit.
Hence, you should always use longest battery life headphones for your daily life and have access to your audio with little chance of them running out of power.
Limit Headphone Use to 1 Hour a Day
How long you use your headphones, is another major factor that needs to be considered, as far as, hearing is concerned. Longer the exposure to high volume, higher would be the damage.
To keep a check on the usage, you can always follow the 60/60 rule. This rule stands for listening to music at 60% of the max volume for a maximum duration of 60 minutes at a time.
Always remember giving rest to your ears is also very important. Continuous usage of headphones for more prolonged durations would also cause harm to your hearing abilities even if the volume is under the acceptable limits.
You should also avoid sleeping with headphones in. Your ears need fresh air to breathe and keeping earbuds in all night is detrimental to ear health.
Learn the Safe Hearing Limits
If due to some reason you are unable to buy good quality headphones, you should be very clear about the safe hearing limits. Experts advise that you should limit the usage of headphones up to 8hours in a day that too following the 60/60 rule.
WHO recommends that people who are expecting exposure to higher volumes like during rock shows or concert, should avoid using headphones on that day.
Buy Good Quality Headphones
If you want to prevent hearing damage buying a good quality headphone is very important. A good quality headphone would not only give good quality sound but would also block all kinds of external noises. This would enable you to listen to the music under acceptable volume limit irrespective of your background sounds. Buying a good quality headphone is worth every penny, as it would protect your hearing abilities from getting damaged.