What's the problem

Each of us has a portable music player in the face of a smartphone in our pocket. To listen to music on the way, you no longer need to buy a conditional Walkman. It is not surprising that the headphone industry has entered a phase of rapid growth since 2012: sales figures are growing by 30 – 40% from year to year, and the same headphones {!!! block='price' idgood='916507' !!! They bring Apple just a lot of money and gradually become more important than the iPhone. In the US, 53% of millennials admitted that they own at least three different pairs of headphones that listen to at least an hour a day.

Research by the east european company FDFgroup confirms the figures: 97% of respondents aged 16 to 25 said they listen to music every day. On average, young people devote about 4 hours a day to music. Only 6% of respondents listen to music for less than an hour a day. Hollywood has canonized the image of a "not like everyone else" teenager for a reason, who constantly wears headphones, being in a state of eternally sad thoughts. And the research of the Sol Republic brand says that from 6 to 8 people out of 10 entering the subway listen to music. Most of them do it at high volume to drown out the noise of the cars.

The flip side of the coin is statistics from WHO, which says that every tenth inhabitant of the planet suffers from hearing impairment or deafness. A third of them received problems as a result of exposure to loud music, industrial noises and sounds of equipment operation. Normally, when these changes begin due to aging, the catch is that hearing loss is now observed among young people. In five years, the largest German insurance company Barmer has tripled the number of customers aged 15 to 35 who need a hearing aid. "The fact that hearing worsens after 50 – 60 years is completely normal. But the fact that such problems arise in young people causes serious concern," says Ursula Marshall, one of the leaders of Barmer.

And now let's try to sort out everything that has been said and understand whether the headphones themselves, their manufacturers or the listeners themselves who wear them incorrectly are to blame.

True wireless headphones

Myth 1: Headphones can lead to hearing loss and even hearing loss

Researcher Robert Novak from Purdue University was one of the first to sound the alarm, as doctors began to diagnose rapid hearing loss in young people under 30, as if they were already over 60. One of the reasons for this phenomenon Novak called household headphones. It is on this research by Novak that many publications on the web rely. The problem is that few of them have dug deep, pulling out only the terrible numbers lying on the surface.

What is the reality?

Permanent negative effects on the hair cells of the basilar membrane lead to irreversible hearing disorders. Due to the lesion of certain hairs on a certain part of the membrane, the susceptibility of certain frequencies also worsens. Well, if the ear is persistently treated with loud music, then the membrane will lose its properties on the entire spectrum, leading to a systematic hearing loss and subsequently deafness. The trick is that in order to destroy the basilar membrane, a regular sound pressure above 100 dB must be created on the ear.

Most manufacturers of headphones rely on this data, so you will hardly find models on the market that produce a pressure above 100 dB. The most common numbers are 92 – 96 dB for household headphones and 100 – 104 dB for professional ones. Extra decibels are needed here only to give a certain margin of safety, so that at high volume the speakers do not have to work at the limit, introducing harmonic distortion into the sound. The same applies to smartphone manufacturers: any manufacturer sews foolproof protection into the system, which turns on if you try to unscrew the sound in the headphones at 100%.

Conclusion

WHO recognized a noise level of more than 85 dB for 8 hours as dangerous, and limited the safe listening time to 100 dB sounds to 15 minutes. That is, for systematic hearing loss, you need to listen to music at 100% volume, exceeding the sound pressure of 100 dB. Moreover, this should be done constantly, since the compensatory capabilities of the middle and inner ear can reduce the likelihood of irreversible changes.

Vacuum headphones

Myth 2: The worst enemy of the ears is in—ear headphones and in-ear headphones

The closer the sound source is to the ear, the more intensely it is perceived. Therefore, loud music from headphones is much more harmful than music from speakers, since you simply cannot move away from the sound source at a comfortable distance. Therefore, vacuum earplugs are much more harmful than overhead ones, since they create a void in the auricle in the manner of vacuum packages in stores, increasing the already high pressure level.

What is the reality?

According to research from Harvard Medical School, sound pressure also depends on the types of headphones. Specifically, in–ear headphones, which are inserted into the ear itself, increase the sound pressure level by 9 – 10 dB. This is in comparison with conventional overhead headphones. As for the inserts, everything is a little more interesting here. Due to the fact that the earbuds, along with the music, pass part of the external noise into the ear canal, the owners of such headphones tend to increase the volume, creating excessive sound pressure.

Conclusion

All this tells us not about the harm of these types of headphones, but that you should not abuse excessive volume. Due to the increased pressure on the ears, such models should be listened to at a volume 10-15% lower than usual.

Multi-channel headphones

Myth 3: Daily use of headphones leads to deafness and hearing loss

Urban residents have a habit of putting on headphones and increasing the volume, blocking the noise of the streets and other components of the urban cacophony. So they expose their ears to harmful effects, thinking that they calm themselves with music. Rivka Strom, director of audiology at Advanced Hearing NY, a hearing loss clinic in Brooklyn, confirms that this is a bad habit. "Take, for example, the subway. The trains are quite noisy, some people talk, others arrange small musical concerts. Therefore, anyone who increases the volume on their devices puts their hearing at risk," says Strom.

What is the reality?

In the human ear, nature provides protection only from short-term loud sounds, while prolonged exposure inevitably leads to hearing loss. After short-term exposure to high noise levels, the hair cells of the inner ear regenerate, and hearing acuity decreases only temporarily and slightly. With repeated and prolonged exposure to noise, these auditory sensory cells are damaged more seriously, and their restoration becomes impossible. Especially if they are under constant and strong pressure. At the same time, it is important to make allowances for individual hearing characteristics. Many musicians, DJs and sound engineers are forced to work with headphones for 4 to 8 hours a day, but there have not yet been adequate studies proving that they lose their hearing faster than other people.

Conclusion

We advise you not to mess with extra volume. Well, don't forget to give your ears a rest, especially if you like to listen to music for hours on end. Even if you need it for work, you can always take a break to brew tea and coffee, chat with colleagues or read some interesting article.

Myth 4: earbuds and in-ear headphones contribute to the development of ear diseases

Everything is simple here, a lot of garbage is collected on the headphone nozzles per day, and this unhygienic nature leads to the development of ear infections, the development of fungus and other charms.

What is the reality?

For the development of infection in the external auditory canal, such conditions are necessary as: the presence of bacteria, fungal spores, etc. (there are plenty of them everywhere, and the material of headphones is not a nutrient medium, like the material of ear pads), the presence of an entrance gate for infection, for example, trauma, microtrauma, etc., decreased immunity, deterioration of blood circulation.

Conclusion

Do not neglect basic ear hygiene, regularly clean ear pads or rubber nozzles from dirt and sulfur accumulations (this is the main breeding ground of bacteria and fungal spores), and do not try to insert headphones into your ears too hard and sharply so as not to provoke damage to the ear canal.

Headphones with two speakers

How to keep your ears healthy?

It seems to us that there can be only one conclusion from all that has been said: with proper use, headphones are quite safe for your hearing. The problem is that with proper use, a bottle of vodka or a nuclear power plant is also quite safe. It is important not to go to extremes here, For example, do not wear vacuum headphones all day long, do not listen to music at 100% volume, and do not rock low-resistance headphones with a powerful amplifier, further raising the sound pressure level.

Instead, try not to listen to music with headphones for longer than 3 to 4 hours at a time so that your ears can rest. Do not turn the volume up to the maximum to shout over the noise of the street or the hum of subway cars. If constant ambient noise is your faithful companion, then try using vacuum-type headphones or overhead closed ones. They provide the best sound insulation among all types, so you can listen to them at a volume lower than usual. Or pay attention to models with an active noise reduction system. They will not need to shout over the surrounding noise, so you can comfortably listen to music at medium volume. Also an interesting option may be headphones with bone conduction type AfterShokz Trekz Titanium , which transmit sound vibrations to the temporal bone bypassing the ear. There is no sound insulation at all, the sound quality is worse than in conventional headphones, but there is no load on the ears.