Listening to music or a podcast is a great way to relax or pump up the energy through an exercise routine, running, jogging, during a commute to work or while doing landscaping work to pass time more enjoyably. However, you also want to be careful about headphone use and hearing loss because it is on the rise, especially with young adults and teenagers. If you don’t want to become another statistic, then here is what you need to know to safeguard your hearing.
Though you may think that listening to your favorite songs loudly for about an hour and a half every day doesn’t matter on a headphone or through earbuds, but you would be wrong. Yet, the volume on a daily basis does impact the health of your ears that can result in permanent hearing loss. Another consequence that could be in your future is Tinnitus, which is ringing in the ears or a different annoying sound in one or both ears. Something else to worry about is that you can also risk more ear infections, numbness, brain problems and possible multiple sclerosis.
The best thing that you can do for your ears is keeping the noise level below 80 decibels, which is fairly loud such as the sound of an alarm clock. Yale University has an interesting decibel level chart to compare various sound levels to give you a better idea.
Something else that can help is examining the sound features on your headphone. Just go to settings and aim for where you Sound and Haptics. Then put it to Headphone Safety. You also need to toggle to Reduce Loud Sounds. Turn it on until it shows green.
Another piece of advice about headphone use and hearing loss to consider is remembering the importance of its design also plays a part for auditory health. Avoid a headphone design that adheres inside the ear too closely to block the canal with tips that could obstruct airflow, magnifying sound. Instead, a safer design option for a headphone or earbuds is selecting one with vents.
You still can listen to the tunes you want, but taking a bit of precaution now is something you can do to prevent ear problems and damage later.
