Will Headphones Ruin Your Hearing?

Everywhere you look, people are wearing headphones. It's nice to have your favorite music playing when you're commuting, at work or at the gym, but too many hours and too much volume could leave you trading in your earbuds for a hearing aid.

Permanent Damage
It's long been known that regular exposure to loud sounds causes hearing loss. In recent years, researchers have found that close exposure to sound, such as music coming from headphones, has the same effect. The delicate follicles in our ears that pick up sounds simply aren't designed to have sound pumped at them for hours every day.

Increasingly, Americans in their 30s and 40s are seeing doctors for hearing loss. Some suffer from tinnitis, a constant ringing in the ears that stems from prolonged exposure to high decibels. Others suffer from noise-induced hearing loss caused by repeated headphone use, starting during their teen years with portable cassette players and continuing in the adult years with MP3 players. Higher frequencies of sound tend to be the first to go, which can make it difficult to follow conversations. Once the damage is done, it cannot be repaired.

Preventing Hearing Loss
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent hearing loss associated with headphones.

• Turn the volume down. Portable music players should never be used at more than 60% of their maximum volume with headphones or earbuds, according to Boston Children's Hospital.
• Unglue the headphones from your head. Even at lower volumes, damage to your ears can still occur. Boston Children's hospital recommends listening for no more than an hour at a time and giving your ears some rest between headphone sessions.
• Avoid earbuds. Headphones that rest inside your ears actually magnify sound by between six and nine decibels, according to Northwestern University Professor Dean Garstecki. His research found that permanent hearing loss can occur in as little as an hour if extremely loud music is played through earbuds. Headphones that rest against the outside of your ears are safer to use.

Another danger to consider is the possibility of physical injury. If the volume is so loud that you can't hear what's going on around you, you put yourself at risk for accidents, particularly if you're walking, jogging or cycling in busy areas.