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Multiple affects whether it is goo or bad, are seen to be imposed on our health in our daily life, due to the technology  advancement, keeping us trapped in comforts and luxuries. One of the most popular technology affecting our health is the use of earphones and headphones. 

Want to avoid hearing damage from headphone?

Continuous use of earphones or headphones without keeping knowledge of health issues will definitely going to damage your ears. Our ears are sensitive to pitches ranging from 2000 to 5000 Hz but we can hear a pitch range as low as 20 Hz and as loud as 20,000 Hz. On the other hand, 0 dB to 85 dB is the bearable level of loudness of the sound but above 85 dB is dangerous to our ears and can be responsible for ear damage when the exposure is more than 2 hours and ear damage can also occur in 5 minutes, if the sound reaches to 105 to 110 dB. Sound less than 70 dB, rarely cause any major damage to the ears. Before using the earphones, if we keep these points in our mind, it will help us to hear earphones or headphones long lasting without any side-effects.

If one wants to use earphone, it is important to make sure that the volume should be within a range and there should be some rest to our ears in between, as sometimes continuous use of headphones produce strange sound or buzzing following severe pain in the ears, resulting immediate rush to the doctor. Some studies also reveal that the continuous use of earphone causes numbness or pain in the ears which can be dangerous for ear.

Follow Dos and don’ts suggestions 

Headphone and earphone uses become requisite in this era resulting in higher cases of headphone casualties like ear damage. Our ears can be damaged by the combination of high sound pitch and long exposure with headphone contributes to potential hearing problems. Here are some suggestions for healthy listening habits.

1. Listening low music over high music is good: It is very important to notice the volume of music, as research shows that high volume is responsible for hearing Loss. 

2. Reduce Time of Listening : Continuous use of headphones or earphones can cause damage in hair cells present in the ear, so it is a big advice to everyone to reduce the headphone time exposure i.e. take a break of 5 to 10 minutes in between listening over headphones to give the hair cells enough time to recover. 

3. Avoid Buying Cheap Earphones: Buying cheap earphone is not a good option, as mostly the sounds from these earphones are distorted, that forces to raise the volume of headphone. Noise cancellation feature is also sometimes missing, that can destroy the ear functions even with short time use. So, it is wise to invest in good quality earphones.

4. Use the Over-ear headphone is better than In-ear headphone: Using bigger headphones are better than the smaller one, as smaller earphone comes in direct contact to ear canal, which is more harmful and reports also suggest that the earphones which are very close to the ear canal makes it five to six times more harmful.

Headphone and kids health- A big concern

Headphone use among children and youth while travelling or studying are very common or can say have become favourite.  For those addicted to earplugs, few tips needs to follow as given below, that help to stay away from dangerous health impacts while still enjoying using their earphones.

• Sharing headphones should be avoided to prevent infection.

• Travelling cause individual to raise their sound in earphone so it’s better to avoid the use of earphones while travelling.

• Try to give rest to your ears once every 15 minutes.

Teaching about headphone or earphone use and its effect on health to children also prevent them from bearing any dangerous effects. It is said by WHO that around 1.1 billion teenagers across the world face the risk of hearing loss due to the unsafe use of audio devices like headphones and earphones. Another study claims that nearly 30% of teenagers suffer from a condition called tinnitus that causes a constant ringing or whistling noise in the ear.

It is advisable for the kids to avoid listening extreme loud music, as its strong vibrations reaches in the cochlear region causes the hair cells to bend or fold and sometimes results in loss of sensitivity or sometimes temporary or permanent hearing loss, which take time to get back to normal condition or cannot repaired in critical case. This type of damage is generally caused by high volume or prolonged use of earphones and headphones. 

Natural remedies

Hearing loss either temporary or permanent may create panic among individuals but it is advisable to discuss about this to the doctors. Sometimes natural remedies also plays important role in treating temporary hear loss but it is good to visit doctor when the condition is to the extreme level. These remedies helps in treating ear infections, improving the circulatory diseases responsible for hearing loss and removing ear wax that prevents the passage of sound waves but cannot cure the problems.

Ginkgo biloba extract

Ginkgo extract help in improving blood circulation in the brain and thus prevent blood vessel breakage. It could also be helpful in controlling noise-induced hearing loss and associated tinnitus, recently published in the journal Neural Plasticity. 

Marjoram

Having sweet pine and citrus flavours, these herb are also helpful for those suffering from hearing loss, which occurs due to poor circulation in the ear.

Echinacea

This is a commonly growing flower found in North America, also known as coneflowers, can be considered as a natural remedy and also be used in supplements for patients having hearing loss but does not fix all cures.

Most Important

We cannot simply stop kids and adults from using headphones but we can make sure that our kids take precautions while using headphone. Use of over-the-ear model of headphones, low pitch volume and quality headphone, which overall help in reducing severe impact on them. Using headphones by maintaining a balance between duration of use and loudness will be safe even with the unlimited use of headphones.