Is it bad to have Earbuds in for a long time?

July 21, 2021 Brian 276 Comments

(Last Updated On: October 13, 2023)

Is it bad to have Earbuds in for a long time?

Everything has a limit—music too, at least in volume and listening times. Exceeding the allowed decibels, shooting songs every day into the headphones could cause severe damage to ear health already from adolescence. Yes going against the nature always brings bad circumstances.

Our ears are subjected more and more every day to the noise pollution of traffic, horns, sirens, and all the other noises of the city if you add to this the frequent and prolonged use of Earbuds, especially for listening to music at very high volumes, the risk that the hearing capacity is damaged greater, as can be easily understood.

The effects of all this noise on our ears can be severe. To make a comparison, what is happening today in educated societies with the increase in cases of myopia also happens for hearing with more cases of early reduction of the hearing threshold for those who live in industrialized and noisy cities.

Further, often when you are on the street or public transport, you use headphones and earphones, as well as to better enjoy the music, also to isolate yourself and exclude other sounds and external noises from your hearing field.

Unfortunately, doing this tends to recklessly increase the volume, which easily exceeds 80-100 decibels.110-120 decibels are the sound power of a chainsaw in action or of a jet taking off, while the sound of the human voice reaches an average of 30-40 decibels and so is heard, so at this same intensity, you could also safely listen to music.

It is not for nothing that the European Union has commissioned a study to impose limits on the supply of sound on the producers of technological devices; however, before these regulations reach the market widely, it is advisable to adjust the volume of your devices so as not to damage your hearing.

In general, headsets are still preferable to Earbuds, which fortunately are increasingly used for telephone conversations rather than for listening to music.

The headphones are external to the ears, and therefore the sound, if not too high, is less traumatic for the eardrum membrane.

On the contrary, the earphones are placed directly inside the auricle, and this risks being more damaging to the eardrum because the source of the sound is in direct or almost direct contact with the membrane; additional risk is that of cutaneous infections of the pavilion aggravated by the foreign presence of the earpiece inside the ear.

Hearing prevention, on the other hand, exists and is easy to implement. First, it is necessary to respect the ’60 -60 ‘rule, i.e., listen to music at 60% of the maximum volume allowed by the device, therefore about 60dB, for a maximum of 60 minutes.

Secondly, it is good to listen to it with high-quality headphones that cancel background noise and have ear protectors that warn about exceeding the permitted and protective 90dB.

“It is unlikely to become deaf at levels below 80 dB – the ENT experts reassure – and at this power, you can still listen (well) to music without problems up to 40 hours a week”.

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