We don’t know why people look for such obvious questions whose answer is obviously YES!
Just imagine that you are into a room where there is pin-drop silence, and then suddenly there’s a full volume DJ music starts. You will plunge your hands to your ears, right?
Then why plug in earphones all day into your ears and damage your ears?
No doubt, fancy earphones, and headphones are trending these days.
Is it okay to follow the trend at the cost of your health? No, right!
We do not deny you that earphones should be completely out of your life. It is not possible as well. In spite, we have also made a guide of Best earphones under 1000 Rupees. But as we know, ‘ANYTHING IN EXCESS WILL ALWAYS BE DANGEROUS!’
Let’s discuss how wearing earphones all day will harm your health.
How Earphones Damage our Ears?
As we all know that hearing music through earphones for longer hours can damage your ears.
Here’s how it damages our hearing system-
Motorcycle engines can create near about 100 decibels of sound. This amount is enough to begin the damage in a person’s ears in less than half an hour.
When any music player is played at 70% of its volume, it produces around 85 decibels of sound. Not instantly, but gradually it affects the ears and hearing process. And it might also lead to permanent hearing loss.
Deafness from earphones is an example of noise-induced hearing loss, abbreviated as (NIHL). NIHL cases are increasing day by day, especially in teens and kids.
How does High Noise role up to hearing loss?
If you were a biology student, you might have studied that our ear is divided into three parts- the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.
The inner ear has the cochlea that contains tiny hair cells. These hair cells are responsible for sending sound messages to the brain.
If they are confronted with a loud noise, they may damage permanently. Due to the damage, the cochlea cannot send sound messages to the brain in a proper manner.
The worst part is: THE HAIR CELLS NEVER REPAIR ITSELF!
Instead, the damage increases as time passes, and also the hearing decreases. Hence a proper use of earphones is advisable!
How to predict that you are digging into NIHL?
Generally, there are prior symptoms that show you are getting into noise-induced hearing loss.
It is not an immediate activity, but it happens gradually. Many people may feel the symptoms but do not consider its seriousness in the beginning stages and regret later.
What are the symptoms of it? Here are some major symptoms that you can feel in your ears while encountering noise.
- Buzzing, ringing, or alike sounds are heard in the ears after hearing a loud noise or sound.
- The sound that you are hearing may not appear to be clear. In short, muffling and distortion of sounds also happen.
Now the question arises:
‘What to do if I feel such symptoms happening with me?’
The answer is very simple.
Firstly stop using earphones or any other music device directly plugged into your ears.
Secondly, visit your doctor. If he examines any further complications, he will send you to an audiologist.
An audiologist will give you some tests to perform. Based on that tests, he will know the amount of damage created in your hearing system.
If you have any further interrogations regarding what to do with the earphones, whether can you continue listening to music through it or not?
This question should be asked to the audiologist; because he knows the amount of damage created and will suggest whether to use earphones further or stop using them.
What is the correct manner to use Earphones??
We can guarantee you that noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable if you properly use the earphones.
Now you might be examining, what is the correct manner to use earphones?
Here it is-
While using any gadget, if used moderately, there are fewer chances of it troubling you in the future.
Who will decide what a moderate way to use earphones is? Of course, you will decide by keeping some time limit to hear to music through earphones.
As advised, overdoing things is always gonna harm you! So, decide some limit in time and volume of the music.
You should not plug in your earphones, not more than the volume decided and not more than the time decided. Or else be ready for the circumstances that you will face at a very young age.
Advisable and best time limit is 60 minutes in a day. And that too gives short breaks to your ears as well in the between. Hear in 15 minutes x 4 slots a day and get refreshed.
Also, your smartphone is smart in a way that it warns you about the voice level increase. Volume should not exceed more than 60%. Keeping it around 30-40% will be fine!
What if you cannot decide the volume is okay or not?
Here’s a trick for it as well.
You just have to plug in your earphones and wear them. Now start the music and call someone to sit beside you. Ask them whether they can hear the music going on in your ears from a certain distance sitting next to you.
If the say YESSS!!!
The volume of your music system is quite loud, and it will surely damage your hearing system. It also indicates that you might not hear low noises, and hence, the damaging process has begun!
What are other matters of concern while hearing loud noise?
Listening to loud music or any loud noise using earphones not only harms your ears but also makes you unaware of your surroundings.
For instance, many people are habituated to listen to music through earphones while driving vehicles. Around 60% of accidents are caused because of this reason.
The driver might not hear the sound of a vehicle coming from behind or sideways and will encounter an accident then.
Hence, avoid loud music while driving as well and be a responsible citizen. At last, the only conclusion that you might be at is- avoid using earphones for a longer time and with louder volumes!
