Headphones causing Health issues (Hearing problems)

S

solo_wing

Herald
awestorr said:
@tr27 @imran_chennai
can i use this while showering?
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solo_wing said:
Say Ip54.
That means only limited protection against dust and water sprayed not for showering.

avoid these things even if says good for shower also You may not only cause it damage but to your ears also.

I suffer from hearing thanks to all those years of using headphones and in ear ones specially. .. I even keep advising people not to go for in-ear headphones or tws etc but in the end it is their call.

Safest is bone conducting one. I will buy it once my relative goes to USA and I find the particular one on sale .
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Anuj333 said:
or you can safeguard by listening at low volume levels and taking breaks from prolonged sessions.
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solo_wing said:
Those steps are definitely helpful too. damage has been done for me.
It is god's grace that I still I am good somehow. Thanks to a good doctor.

Anyways if I start it will go way OT and I respect people here only wish to talk deals.

So we can discuss this on another thread.
I don't mind making one if it helps fellow members health.
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tr27 said:
Sorry can you repeat, i couldn't hear you.
But all true. Also even if the hearing has not gone to shambles, while don't realise, we loose hearing certain frequencies in many ways.
But it's a different and long talk on its own.. hearing and vision problems are just on the rise.
Still like to know more on the feedback about the "left seal" issue on the soundcore a30i

Also found this deal for Phillips drip coffee machine, but again , I have no clue but I need a coffee machine, please let me know about this deal (again lowest in my tracking) and the coffee machine FAQ's (if this gets enough engagement, please more to seperate thread)
₹1679
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So thought I will put this here as a health issues advisory .

Suffering myself for hearing issues in from mid-20s due to heavy use of headphones .

Even my relationship suffered because of this
But thankful I am better now. 70% .

I will strongly advice not to use in-ear headphones specially and less your use of tws as much as possible


Over the ear headphones are little better but even they are not exactly the best .

Maybe bone conducting headphones are much more safer. And I am soon Going to shift to that from over the year headphones.

Lot of measures you can take like as suggested by fellow members .

Keeping Low volume.
Taking breaks.
Using it for limited or only when needed.

However the idea as put by one member to take to shower is a poor idea in my opinion. There is big risk of damaging his ears even if it says water proof as any small opening or leakage will cause short-circuit and might damage the ears badly.

Hope this helps and other members can contribute to it .
 
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My use is mainly podcasts. So voice at volume no more than 50%.

The problem arises when you increase volume to compensate for louder ambient noise.

I say get ear defenders and you can listen at low volume. Especially if you don't like iems and go for open design which has no usable sound cancelling

AirPods are ear killers if you listen for long and at loud volumes
 
Prolonged continuous use of IEMs (which seal the external ear canal) can lead to ear infections beacuse they create a closed and humid environment which promotes the growth of infectious organisms. Always take breaks in between prolonged listening sessions. and low volume for long durations can also cause hearing damage, it need not always be high volume.
 
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One tip I would add is to avoid In-Ear earphones. I hate them. It feels like they are pressing against my brain. I exclusively use old-school earphones from Sony. To enjoy the Wireless experience, I bought a Bluetooth receiver for 250 that makes the wired earphones wireless. It gives a battery backup of 1 hour, and I can swap out the Bluetooth receiver when the battery goes down with a charged one.
 
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john1911 said:
Prolonged continuous use of IEMs (which seal the external ear canal) can lead to ear infections beacuse they create a closed and humid environment which promotes the growth of infectious organisms. Always take breaks in between prolonged listening sessions. and low volume for long durations can also cause hearing damage, it need not always be high volume.
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People should clean their ears with soap while taking bath and also clean the iem and ear tips with sanitizer or 99% iso propyl alcohol to avoid such infections. After cleaning the ear tips with IPA, i've noticed the fit is much better. I don't keep volume above 35% in laptop and above 25% in phone. If ambient noise is too high i stop listening to music or videos completely. Better safe than sorry. I've lost hearing in one ear temporarily for 4-5 months after some retard blew a horn near my ear. I had to clean blood from my ear for weeks after the eardrum punctured.
 
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I recently went to an ENT for a slight itch in one ear. He said there's an infection but it is mild so it will be okay, and he prescribed antibiotics for a few days.

The main thing he said is never put anything in your ear, not cotton buds, not water, not even ear drops. He said the wax comes out on its own and you should only clean the outer ear. Ear drops are to be used only in specific circumstances, and when prescribed by the doctor. I myself used to put water in the ear when bathing, but I've stopped now.

I also told him I use headphones for half an hour to an hour everyday when I exercise, and he said it's okay, but don't keep the volume too high and not for extended durations. Of course, there's no point in his saying don't use headphones or earphones, because people nowadays are going to use it anyway.

One thing I've done is switched from in-ear earphones to over-the-ear headphones. Use of both promotes bacterial growth in the ears, but it is much more with earphones.
 
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While we should clean the ear auricle (pinna), ideally speaking, we should not clean the auditory meatus (it is approx 3 cm long, we can still clean the outer 1/3rd caritagenous EAM, inner 2/3rd is a big no). And no matter how well you clean, it won't be sterile. There will always be residual skin flora left behind (which is perfectly normal, they stay trapped in wax and the cilia continuously keeps on pushing then outside, it is a self cleaning mechanism, nature has taken care of it).

So what happens is that when you keep the IEM for prolonged time, the residual flora gets a favourable environment (moist and warm) to multiply. That's what causes the problems (infections). Hence it is adviced to take frequent breaks in between prolonged use.

It is a really great advice to clean IEMs with IPA. I frequently clean my IEM ear tips with IPA and the seal is amazing after that. Kills the microbes on IEM too. But I do it for the amazing seal, killing microbes is a by-product :P

@6pack Sorry to hear that, hope you're doing better now.
 
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solo_wing said:
Say Ip54.
That means only limited protection against dust and water sprayed not for showering.

avoid these things even if says good for shower also You may not only cause it damage but to your ears also.

I suffer from hearing thanks to all those years of using headphones and in ear ones specially. .. I even keep advising people not to go for in-ear headphones or tws etc but in the end it is their call.

Safest is bone conducting one. I will buy it once my relative goes to USA and I find the particular one on sale .
Click to expand...

It is a misconception that bone conduction earphones are safer. They bypass the eardrums but still stimulate the cochlea for sound, same as any earphones. In fact, because of lack of isolation, the volume is usually turned up by users, resulting in more damage.

journals.lww.com

Letters: The Truth about Bone-Conduction Earphones : The Hearing Journal

An abstract is unavailable.
journals.lww.com journals.lww.com

I have found that having ANC on at full (specifically from Bose, Sony, Apple) is the best way to reduce the actual decibel level impacting the ears.
 
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t3chg33k said:
It is a misconception that bone conduction earphones are safer. They bypass the eardrums but still stimulate the cochlea for sound, same as any earphones. In fact, because of lack of isolation, the volume is usually turned up by users, resulting in more damage.

journals.lww.com

Letters: The Truth about Bone-Conduction Earphones : The Hearing Journal

An abstract is unavailable.
journals.lww.com journals.lww.com

I have found that having ANC on at full (specifically from Bose, Sony, Apple) is the best way to reduce the actual decibel level impacting the ears.
Click to expand...
✔️ yes this is the right way, listening at low levels with ANC on
 
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t3chg33k said:
It is a misconception that bone conduction earphones are safer. They bypass the eardrums but still stimulate the cochlea for sound, same as any earphones. In fact, because of lack of isolation, the volume is usually turned up by users, resulting in more damage.

journals.lww.com

Letters: The Truth about Bone-Conduction Earphones : The Hearing Journal

An abstract is unavailable.
journals.lww.com journals.lww.com

I have found that having ANC on at full (specifically from Bose, Sony, Apple) is the best way to reduce the actual decibel level impacting the ears.
Click to expand...
Thank you for saying this.

There is another misconception that IEMs are worse than earbuds/openback headphones also. Argument is that IEMs seal causes hearing problem or something like that, at least that’s what I was told by my parents and friends a long time back.

On the contrary, with earbuds/openbacks people crank up the volume to drown out the external noise. Which damages hearing more.

IEMs provide noise isolation, sometimes ANC also. That reduces the need to increase the volume so much. Overall, proving better for relatively prolonged usage.

Nonetheless, Loud volumes in general should be avoided.

If there is no need for earphones, say for privacy or disturbance, then a loudspeaker at low volume is always better , both sonically and ear health wise.
 
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t3chg33k said:
I have found that having ANC on at full (specifically from Bose, Sony, Apple) is the best way to reduce the actual decibel level impacting the ears.
Click to expand...
But no certification is there for ANC. Not suitable for industrial applications. Unlike with ear defenders.

noisyworld.org

Do Noise Cancelling Headphones Protect Your Hearing? - NoisyWorld

This article looks at when and how active noise cancelling headphones can help to protect your hearing and when they are not suitable.
noisyworld.org noisyworld.org

and

noisyworld.org

Noise Cancelling Headphones vs Earmuffs: Electronics or Big Ear Cups? - NoisyWorld

In this post I am comparing two of my favorite noise reduction tools: active noise cancelling headphones and earmuffs. The results of an everyday noise reduction test are also included. Noise cancelling headphones (ANC headphones) have become all the rage in recent years, and for good reasons...
noisyworld.org noisyworld.org
 
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Superhind said:
One tip I would add is to avoid In-Ear earphones. I hate them. It feels like they are pressing against my brain. I exclusively use old-school earphones from Sony. To enjoy the Wireless experience, I bought a Bluetooth receiver for 250 that makes the wired earphones wireless. It gives a battery backup of 1 hour, and I can swap out the Bluetooth receiver when the battery goes down with a charged one.
Click to expand...

Can you give the link of receiver?
 
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solo_wing said:

I dont know what @Superhind is talking about.

But I have this portronics one and I have tested for 10 mins or so. It was pretty decent.
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I remember back in Sony Walkman series phone days (before 2010), I used to this have this Sony clip on Bluetooth receiver with female 3.5mm port. That worked beautifully.
 
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