Pt Health Life – Many people love music and often use headphones, but how to use them to protect their ears is also one of the things they need to know.
Wearing headphones can affect your hearing and even permanently damage your hearing if used incorrectly. With an estimated one-third of hearing loss and permanent deafness preventable, improper use of headphones can expose your ears to noise levels comparable to those of chainsaws, jackhammers, motorbikes and socks. Of course, even concerts. pop music.
1. What causes noise-induced hearing loss?
The ear includes the external ear canal, middle ear and inner ear. The middle ear is separated from the ear canal by the eardrum. The middle ear has a series of ossicles that transmit sound including: hammer bone, incus bone and stapes bone. The main component of the inner ear is the cochlea, which is the sensory organ of hearing.
To be able to hear, the sound energy must be strong enough for the hair cells in the cochlea to move. But loud noise can damage these hair cells. Repeated exposure to loud noise will damage the outer hair cells, making the cochlea unable to relay sound messages to the brain well.
Unlike damage to other parts of the body, damage to the inner ear never heals. Those hairs never grow back, and over time, as more and more hair cells are damaged, your hearing will become irreversibly worse.
It is important that if exposure to loud noise lasts for a long time, the hair cells become more and more damaged, causing hearing loss. That is why some professions such as construction workers, mechanical factory workers, police officers and soldiers have more hearing loss.
2. What level of noise is dangerous ?
– Noise level is measured in decibels (dB): The higher this number, the louder the noise. Any sound above 85dB can be harmful, especially if exposed to it for long periods of time.
– Warning: The highest volume on Apple music players like the iPhone is about 102 decibels. Below are some comparisons to help readers better understand this issue.
+ Whisper: 30dB
+ Normal communication: 60dB
+ Background sound in heavy traffic: 80 – 90dB
+ Motorcycles: 96 – 100dB
+ Rice threshing machine: 106 – 115dB
+ Rock concerts/sports events: 120 – 129dB
+ Airplane takeoff: 120dB.
3. Warning signs when you are exposed to too loud a sound
Without a decibel meter, how can we know whether the noise you are exposed to is too loud? Here are some signs to watch out for:
+ We cannot hear other people talking to us, even if we are standing only an arm’s length away, unless they are shouting.
+ People sitting nearby can hear your music through headphones.
+ If you remove the headphones and hold them in front of you at arm’s length, you can still hear the music clearly.
If any of these symptoms appear, turn down the music before it causes more damage to your ears.
What should you do to protect your ears?
Do not turn the volume too loud, adjust it so that the volume level is no more than 60% of the device’s highest level. Do not wear headphones for too long, do not wear headphones when sleeping, because it is easy to fall asleep.
Use headphones that fit your ears tightly so you don’t have to increase the volume due to outside sounds. If not, remember: The louder the volume, the shorter the listening time.
You should use headphones that cover the whole ear. This type of headset will prevent outside sounds from affecting the “fidelity” of the sound, but this type of headset is very expensive and quite “bulky”, so it does not receive favor from the music industry. young friend. However, this is the best option to limit the harmful effects of wearing headphones.
Note that in daily activities, you should listen to music, study… using external speakers. If you need to use headphones, do not turn the volume too high. Do not listen in too noisy environments, because the listener must adjust to louder sounds.
People with diseases of the outer or middle ear should not wear headphones for a long time because it will easily cause ear infections to recur. You should only wear headphones for less than 2 hours/day, especially be careful not to listen with headphones while sleeping.
When you see signs of tinnitus , hearing loss, dizziness, headaches, dizziness, etc., you should go to major hospitals with Ear – Nose – Throat specialists with audiometric equipment for examination and treatment instructions. effective.
