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We all wear headphones, but could yours be damaging your health? It’s not a thing most people consider, yet regular headphone usage can be bad for you in several ways, mainly revolving around your ear and hearing health. The worst part is, you might not even realise something’s wrong, so here are some signs your headphones are causing a bit of a health scare.
You’re Struggling To Hear & Your Ears Feel Full
Both of these are classic symptoms of impacted earwax. This can happen if you wear earbuds as your main headphones; they stick into your ears and push wax back into the ear canal. Wearing them for extended periods also makes it hard for your ears to get rid of wax naturally, so it becomes hard and impacted.
This results in temporary hearing loss and could actually end up rupturing your eardrum if the wax goes back far enough. So, if you ever notice these symptoms, it’s worth booking ear wax removal services to remove the problem – and then reassess your headphone usage. Maybe switch to over-ear headphones or just wear yours less frequently.
There’s A Ringing In Your Ears
A persistent ringing that continues after you’ve stopped listening to music or taken your headphones off is a sign of tinnitus. This is one of the most common hearing health problems out there, and it can be horrible for your mental health. You hear this constant ringing or buzzing that makes it difficult to get to sleep or relax – and it’s probably because you’ve been listening to music through your headphones at too high a volume.
See an audiologist to get help with your tinnitus if it doesn’t go away within a few weeks. Then, turn the volume down on your headphones whenever you use them. Some headphones have settings that tell you a “healthy” volume level for your ears. Stick to this or get noise-cancelling headphones if you don’t already have them, as they block out other sounds so you don’t feel the need to have the volume so high.
You Keep Getting Ear Infections
Whether you wear over or in-ear headphones, regular usage can cause ear infections because:
- You wear your headphones for too long without taking breaks
- You never clean your headphones, so they’re full of bacteria
- You put headphones on when your ears are still wet
Ear infections are painful, especially when they keep coming back every few weeks. Don’t let this be a regular health concern to deal with; take breaks when wearing headphones, get antibacterial wipes to clean them after every use, and make sure you dry your ears before putting them on.
As nice as it is to pop on some headphones and listen to music or podcasts, you need to take a moment to think about the potential ear/hearing health consequences. All in all, you’re able to avoid these problems by doing a few simple things:
- Turn the volume down on your headphones while using them
- Swap between in-ear and over-ear headphones regularly
- Clean your headphones before and after each use
- Don’t leave your headphones in/on for too long
