Headphones and your health. Things to think about when using headphones

Hello.

Headphones have become an everyday item, every day I see hundreds of people on the street with earplugs, some wearing full-size models that cover their heads. Some headphones have noise cancellation, some don’t. Headphones are such a simple and understandable object that we do not think at all that something could be wrong and could potentially harm us. Let’s try in one material to consider the most common problems faced by people who constantly, one might even say non-stop, use headphones of different designs.

But first we need to remember some anatomy and talk about sulfur. There are around 2,000 sulfur glands in your ears, they secrete a lubricant that protects the ear canal from bacteria, fungi and even insects. Evolution does not tolerate vain efforts and the secret of the glands serves to protect us, nature has designed it so that the accumulated sulfur is naturally expelled during chewing, jaw movements.

At twenty, I was lucky to hear from a doctor that cleaning your ears with a cotton swab is harmful, as the body increases the secretion of lubricant, plus you can injure the ear canal. Until that point it seemed to me that clean ears were a necessary element of hygiene, so every few days I used cotton buds and cleaned the ear canal. Those who like such experiments need to know that you involuntarily prompt the body to release more sulfur, hypersecretion begins.

The use of in-ear headphones also affects the production of sulfur, I’m sure any user of TWS headphones has come across the fact that lumps of sulfur periodically appear on them that need to be cleaned. Sometimes it is annoying and it seems that a person is sloppy, not taking care of himself. So, I want to tell you that this is absolutely normal, as nature intended.

It is worth cleaning the headphones themselves, unlike your ears, you can do this procedure once every one and a half to two months, nothing bad will definitely come of it.

Let’s take a look at the most common problems people have with headphones. Let’s start with the TWS headphones, they cover the ear and often have a cap that is inserted into the ear canal. For example, this is what my Buds2 Pro look like. In the photo on the right you see the first Buds Pro, notice that there are particles of ear secretion in the case.

Sulfur plug – we tamper with the secret, we impair hearing

One of the most common problems is the onset of the sulfuric plug, which does not allow us to hear the world around us well. Usually the plug is in one ear, headphones can contribute to this.

Headphones come with different tips, manufacturers recommend using those that fit snugly against the walls of the ear canal. This is really important for passive noise isolation, you will hear the music better, the downside is that when you put headphones on, they displace sulfur and can gradually condense it. The secretion of the glands increases, there is more sulfur and periodically squeezes it from above – traffic jams appear.

Please don’t experiment on yourself. If you have a plug, see a doctor, trying to remove it yourself can lead to disastrous results. Here, many will object to me that I am blowing water – they say, they have done it hundreds of times and nothing. But once is enough to damage the eardrum or ear canal. Don’t experiment on yourself.

Sweaty ears, inflammation and allergies, other problems

Headphones often fit snugly in your ears, you deprive yourself of access to air, create an enclosed space, start to sweat. And here comes the ideal breeding ground for bacteria that you can carry headphones with you: hot, humid, no air. The longer the headphones stay in your ears, the more likely something is to go wrong.

The rule here is simple: don’t wear headphones all the time, take them off when you don’t need them. For example, I use my headphones on the go, but I take them to the office, only use them when someone calls, and then put them back in the box. And even with this approach, I get about 3-4 hours a day. In trips this time increases, for example, in Sapsan it is about 4-5 hours without a break.

Headphones should not be worn immediately after a shower or when sweating (in sports models they try to predict this, although not all manufacturers think about it, no one is perfect). Wait fifteen minutes, don’t put extra stress on your ears.

From time to time it is better to take off the headphones. Now let’s focus on headphones with silicone inserts (this may be another material). We usually use the headphones right away, we don’t do anything with the tabs. Tip that many will consider harmful, but it doesn’t hurt: remove the covers, simply rinse them under warm, but not hot water. They will dry out after a short time. You can’t do this with earphones that have a memory effect (if you have such earphones, you probably know about it).

Allergy or skin irritation manifests itself in the fact that you could peel the skin off your ears. Many people easily get rid of it and continue to use headphones. You shouldn’t do this, you need to fix the problem first and only then use the headphones again. At some stage, skin irritation can lead to inflammation, the appearance of wounds, which is extremely unpleasant. Be smart, don’t ignore the warnings your body is giving you.

Music volume and hearing loss is a 21st century problem

We are constantly surrounded by sounds, in cities their number and variety is great, often exceeding a comfortable level. Remember how you went on a trip outside the city and enjoyed the silence, and then returned to the noise and din. We haven’t gotten used to silence, hence the need for noise canceling headphones.

But the main danger of headphones or speakers is that we can listen to them very loudly, so loud that they can damage our hearing. Here it is important to realize that the impact on hearing directly depends not only on the volume, but also on the duration of the sound. Look at the plate, it describes this feature well.

But the time in explicit form, according to the decibel.

Most headphones today have no maximum volume limit, no control over how long you listen to music and at what volume. Sony has taken care of this for the WH-1000XM5 model and added the appropriate settings, you can track your habits, how exactly you use the headphones.

I really hope that over time something similar will appear with other manufacturers, something useful and allowing you to get into the right habits. In this respect, noise-cancelling headphones are the most necessary thing, such headphones allow you to comfortably listen to music at half volume, you don’t need to increase this parameter so that they scream outside noise, for example, on an airplane. Sony itself is comfortable to listen to at half volume, the margin is huge.

Pay attention to how you listen to music, there is a cumulative effect, you need to be reasonable about how long you use the headphones without taking them off your ears. Loading your head non-stop is definitely not worth it.

Brief conclusions: what to do

We don’t like to think about how certain things work, even when taking medications, we often don’t look at the instructions, we are in no hurry, for example, to find out the dosage of vasoconstrictor drops. Because? We think this is nonsense and we know very well how this nonsense works.

Approximately the same story with headphones – we attribute any shortcomings to our account, rarely swear at the manufacturer, and most importantly – we are not trying to fix anything. In my opinion, reasonableness is important here, you need to understand how and what you use, what you do to avoid certain problems. This is what’s important: Be smart about what you’re doing, and don’t use your headphones non-stop without regard for what’s happening with your body.

Headphones, which have full protection against water, can sometimes be washed, after all, this is a personal item that comes into contact with you. Surely you don’t have to be zealous about this, but you do need to take care of yourself and your headphones.

I didn’t set the task to scare you off the headphones, use them wisely. But most importantly, try not to provide your children of school age and even the smallest in-ear headphones, they are contraindicated in principle! Only overhead models, nothing else can be given to them. But we will talk about this separately another time. Take care of yourself and your ears!