We all know that one person who always has to blast their music. They say it’s not because they can’t hear but because they just like to listen to loud music. We always tell these people they’re going to go deaf. But is this really true? We have discovered that listening to music at high volumes is detrimental to our hearing. This is especially true when we listen to music at high volumes using headphones.
The human ear is delicate. We know that ears are sensitive to loud sounds and over time our ear drums grow weaker leaving us less susceptible to sounds we would hear before. Over time they just can’t pick up the sounds they use to. Even though this is inevitable over time, the use of headphones, which play music directly into the ears, makes it worse. The way the human ear works is that sound is carried through the ear canal causing our ear drums to vibrate. At higher decibels, more damage is done to the ear drum. This is what aids in the process of the loss in hearing.
The actual hearing loss itself is directly caused by sounds being loud enough to destroy hair cells inside our ears. It does not take effect immediately so listening to loud music over long periods of time is what does the trick. Earbuds are typically identified as worse than just regular headphones that rest over the whole ear.”Compared to traditional-style headphones that rest over the ear, earbuds can have a higher output level of sound by about 7-9 decibels.” Studies show that teenagers listen to music at a high level of 110-120 decibels. Music at this high level is shown to cause permanent hearing loss. To put it into context, this has been proven to be just as bad as attending a rock concert.
Due to the current frequency and volumes of which we listen to music, one out of five teenagers are estimated to have some form of hearing loss. The only proven way to reduce this risk is by listening to music at lower volumes and canceling out other outside noises. Here is a cool trick to remember how to lower your risks, “The easiest way to reduce your risk of hearing loss from personal listening devices is to follow what hearing experts call the 60/60 rule: listen at no more than 60 percent of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes a day.”
Sources:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2014/02/are-headphones-and-earbuds-bad-for-your-hearing/index.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/headphones-bad-for-hearing_n_4100874.html
Your title was really creative and your post was very informative. I didn’t know that ear buds where worse than regular headphones. I have both the Beats By Dre tourist ear buds and the mixer headphones and I always thought that the headphones would be worse for my hearing since the music was louder and I always had to turn my volume down when I put them in. My brother and I listen to our music very loudly but his is extremely bad since I can clearly hear the song while he has earbuds in. I found another article that suggests people getting noise canceling headphones so that they don’t have to turn the volume up so high, which is why I like my beats since I can play my music loud but not to the point where other people can hear it while I have them in. Another article shows that people are listening to music louder than a lawn mower, which I thought was really interesting because I never noticed it could be that loud.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051216191834.htm
http://www.centerpointaudio.com/earbud-safety.aspx
When you bring up the topic of Beats by Dre headphones it actually makes sense that they are a little better for our ears as opposed to regular earbuds. Although they are much more expensive they might be better in the long run. The problem with the earbuds is that they play music directly into the ear canal. That is what causes damage to the hair cells in our ears. At the same time the Beats by Dre head phones are noise canceling so they help in that aspect as well. This probably makes them the better alternative in the long run
Everyone’s heard that headphones are bad for your hearing. But what do people do when they lose their hearing? They get hearing aids. This got me wondering as to whether or not hearing aids are bad for our ears as well. Hearing aids are kind of like headphones, in the same sense that they are stuck in your ears and they bring sound into your ears at a louder level so that you can hear. Although headphones are bad for your ears, I found that hearing aids actually are not as long as someone who has hearing problems wears a type of aid that is suitable for their hearing problem. One reason that hearing aids may not be bad for our ears is that unlike headphones, hearing aids are designed to bring in all sounds including background noise, while headphones try to block out the outside noise by being turned up louder.
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Hearing-Aid-Myths-and-Facts/
I often heard people say blasting music will eventually cause you to be deaf. I didn’t know this was a true fact until I learned it in my psychology class. Like you said, loud sound destroys the hair cells inside our ears. Overtime, death of the hair cells will eventually cause us to be deaf. I agree with what Carlynne Anne Wagner said, there could be confounding variables for this theory. What if the person has something known as Retracted Eardrum? Retracted eardrums are caused by infections and one of the main symptoms of this condition is increased hearing sensitivity. A person with a retracted eardrum often hears most sounds louder than they really are. So in this case, we can’t use the 60/60 rule because people with retracted eardrum hears everything louder than the average person. Here is the website about Retracted Eardrums.
http://www.wisegeekhealth.com/what-is-a-retracted-eardrum.htm
After learning about the different ways to consider a hypothesis valid or not, it is possible that this particular theory is not true. For example, there could always be a third confounding variable. Instead of the loss of hair along the ear canal being attributed to the loud music, it could be the result of improper ear care such as cleaning. If too much ear wax builds up in the canal, it could cause loss of hair along the ear canal. Also, improper ear care in teens could create a need to turn the music up at higher volumes due to the blockage of the ear canal by ear wax. Also, it is possible that this phenomenon is due to chance. Chance is always a possibility in explaining certain theories.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confounding
While walking to class we all observe students listening to music. How much is to much though? I love listening to music and always have my ear buds everyday and if I don’t listen to music on my way to class it feels as if I’m missing something. Are some ear bud companies more beneficial to others? Beats by Dre are known to be very good headphones. This is a problem for many students though because no one wants to spend over 100 dollars on a pair of headphones. After reading this blog though I may just have to suck it up and spend some money on a good pair of headphones. Here is some more information on how it can be harmful to your ears if you listen to very loud music. http://bestheadphoneshq.com/prevent-hearing-loss/
Kids have been listening to loud music with headphones their whole lives. Is it possible to reverse the damage that is already done or do we just have to stop now before it gets really bad? I’d like to see a study done measuring the hearing of those who have listened to loud music with headphones everyday compared to the hearing of those who only listen to headphones every once in a while. How large is the loss of hearing? This article says that 1 in 5 teens have hearing loss which is 30% higher than it was in the 80s and 90s. I think that definitely is due to the advances in technology.
Very creative title! I think matter is taken way too lightly. Just yesterday, a girl walked into my Spanish class with headphones in blaring the music. She was the only one listening to music at the time while the whole class was silent. Her music was so loud that she didn’t notice us talking and giggling to ourselves about how loud her music was. There was no way that could be comfortable. Do you think that Beats by Dre are better for you since they are noise cancelling but can control the volume of your music? If this is better, would people be willing to pay a couple hundred dollars for a pair of headphones. I think most people would think it would be dumb to pay that much money. Actually, I have thought that my hearing may have gotten worse due to headphones. I think people believe with loud outside interferences they need to crank up their music. Like it’s some kind of way to cancel each other and it becomes better. I guess will realize their mistake when they are deaf at the age of 40.