Slashdot Mirror
Earbud Headphones May Cause Hearing Loss
benr writes "According to an AP report, the earbud headphones that are so popular for ipods and other portable devices may lead to hearing loss. From the article: "The big culprits aren't the devices themselves, but the tiny 'ear bud' style headphones that the music players use. 'Unfortunately, the earbuds are even more likely to cause hearing loss than the muff-type earphones that were used on Walkman and portable CD players'""
I had some old earbud headphones in which the left earbud was dead, and didn't have the time/money to buy new ones. I used them for months with my CD Player, and when I finally did get new headphones, I found my right-ear isn't as good as it use to be. I got new ones about 2 months ago, but my ear still isn't at "peak efficiency". Won't make that mistake twice.
google.slashdot
This is hardly news; for years, headphones have been known to cause hearing loss, and ear buds are merely the extreme expression of this kind of problem. Recently in September 2005 there was a flurry of articles about this issue, according to a quick google search.
There's evidence of a general decline in hearing sensitivity in movie theatres and airplanes. The intensity of airplane overhead speaker volume has recently become almost painful to my ears, and it seems to be consistent across different airlines. Movie theatres as well have cranked up the volume. I find myself covering my ears during the previews, which tend to have intense, compressed action with a lot of music and narrative to pump up the adrenaline. Generally when the main feature begins the sound volume settles down a bit but it can still be worrisomely loud.
I am worried that we in the U.S. are becoming a nation of half-deaf electronic addicts, cranking our headsets and PA systems ever louder to compensate, perhaps unknowingly, for our diminishing sensitivity to sound.
I only hope that ENT doctors and researchers continue to find ways to repair the ear's mechanisms and perhaps develop nerve repair techniques or we're gonna have a huge population of elderly deaf people 50 years from now (with commensurate increase in volume of PA systems etc.).
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
Loud stuff hurts ears.
This issue basically boils down to common sense. If you listen to your music at excessively high volume, you will eventually suffer hearing loss. People also need to realize that their hearing adapts to different sound levels. European iPods ship with a volume limiter for this reason.
TFA describes the in-ear headphones as being less capable at blocking ambient noise than the "earmuff" style phones. That leads me to believe they're actually talking about the old school in-ear phones, the kind that just sort of hang in your ears. Newer ones, like the Sony Fontopia in-ear designs, actually fit all the way into your ear canal. These actually are pretty good at blocking out exterior noises -- in fact, they take some getting used to. If they're going to lead to hearing loss, it's probably because of the amazing bass response for such small phones. I don't work for Sony -- there are other, similar brands on the market, but the Sonys are the only ones I've used.
Breakfast served all day!
The big culprits aren't the devices themselves, but the tiny 'ear bud' style headphones that the music players use.
Is it the design of the headphones, or the design of the headphones combined with people listening to their music at higher levels than usual?
" In a study published last year in the journal Ear and Hearing, researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at a variety of headphones and found that, on average, the smaller they were, the higher their output levels at any given volume-control setting. And other studies have shown that because the tiny phones inserted into the ears are not as efficient at blocking outside sounds as the cushioned headsets, users tend to crank up the volume to compensate."
So the problem isn't a technological one, but a psychological one. I'm guessing the in-ear phones like the ones made by Etymotic wouldn't be subject to this phenomenon.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
No matter how loud you can crank your stereo, several months of a crying baby in your house will make you appreciate the little bit of the quiet time you get.
You can listen to the Beatles loudly. You can listen to Queen loudly. You can listen to anything loudly, and people do. It's not just the top 40 crap that's on those MP3 players, you know.
I really don't see the point you're trying to make with that statement.
Goo goo g'joob.
I am only 38 and have a bad case of Tinnitus. For those lucky bastards who don't---look it up and take very seriously the amount of noise you get. I work downtown in a LARGE city and I always put in earplugs when I am walking to lunch for an hour or so. I started doing that after taking a decibel meter outside with me one day. Amazing how loud life is now.
How can the Associated Press and its editors find a new news story out of something that has been publicized since the 1940s?
m
To what extent and in what form should the news media re-teach readers basic life lessons (eat a balanced diet, exercise, drink in moderation, don't listen to loud music, etc.)?
How should the press segregate news so that the average reader does not get lowest common denomiator news (e.g., things aimed at those that don't know better or are 5 years old or younger)?
Begin Quote from: "The History of Audiology" http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/aud_history.ht
The History of Audiology
The profession of audiology had its origins in the 1920s when audiometers were first designed for measuring hearing. Interest in this profession surged in the 1940s when soldiers returned from World War II with noise induced hearing loss due to near-by gunfire or to prolonged and unprotected exposure to machinery noise. Others had psychogenic (non-organic) hearing loss as a result of severe emotional and mental stress. The Veterans Administration took a lead role in providing hearing testing and rehabilitation through hearing aids, auditory training, and speechreading (lipreading) programs.
Since the 1940s and 1950s, the study of hearing, hearing loss, and audiologic rehabilitation has escalated and expanded. New tests of hearing have been developed including evaluations of functions of the outer ear, middle ear, cochlea, acoustic nerve, and related brain areas. Techniques using physiologic measurements that were in the research stages 20-30 years ago are now routine.
Modern technology and computerization have dramatically influenced hearing aids. Hearing aids have changed from "boxes" in shirt pockets and "cords" to the ear to highly sophisticated "completely-in-the-ear canal" aids. Virtually any kind of hearing loss can be improved by a hearing aid. Cochlear implants are increasingly common and successful. Through cochlear implantation, a destroyed or damaged cochlea can be by-passed and the acoustic nerve can be stimulated directly.
Today, audiologists and the practice of audiology have widespread visibility. Audiology has a presence in public schools, health care centers, private practices, nursing homes, community agencies, the military, hospitals. colleges and universities, hearing aid dispensing centers, hearing and speech centers. They test hearing and listening ability; they fit hearing aids and assistive listening devices; they provide training and rehabilitation programs for individuals with hearing and listening disorders; they participate on health care and educational teams tp plan and provide the most appropriate services.
Why would any different style of speaker be any more or less likely to cause hearing damage vs another? Surely the only thing that really matters is the volume at which the sound hits your eardrum.
Earbuds may be closer to the eardrum, but the sound that comes out of them is far less loud than that of a speaker (for comparison, plug your earbuds in and listen to them from the same distance that you'd listen to speakers from. clearly they're FAR more quiet). Therefore they make up for the closer distance to your eardrum by being less noisy. As a result, you should be just as likely to get hearing damage from speakers as from earbuds, assuming you listen to both at the same perceived volume.
All that the article seems to indicate is "In a study published last year in the journal Ear and Hearing, researchers at Harvard Medical School looked at a variety of headphones and found that, on average, the smaller they were, the higher their output levels at any given volume-control setting.". So basically smaller earphones are more sensitive. Duh? Basically all they're saying is that you dont have to turn the volume knob up as high for small buds vs big headphones.
At any given volume, earbuds aren't any more likely to cause hearing damage than headphones or speakers.. it's just that it seems people are too dumb to realise that they have to turn the volume knob down when they change to different brands/styles of headphones.
The research doesn't show that earbuds cause hearing damage, it shows that excessive listening to music at excessive volumes causes hearing damage. It just so happens that portable music players gives the option for many people to listen to music for large amounts of time, and that most portable music players come with earbud style headphones. This is not causation.
In the end, the best way to prevent hearing damage is probably "in-ear phones" or "canalphones". See etymotic, shure, sony, sharp. They are just earphones that go deep inside the earcanal and use a material (usually silicone or foam) to make a seal with the earcanal to prevent any external noise from "leaking" in. Thus, you dont have to turn up the volume to allow you to hear your music over cars, computer fans, tvs, etc... Thus, your music is at a lower volume and your hearing is happier
For proof, btw, I personally got hearing damage when i moved away from canalphones and instead bought some full-sized headphones. They were both very bright in sound (lots of shharp trebble) and open (lots of sound leaking in, meaning i turned it up more). That combo did more damage than earphones ever have
I really don't see the point you're trying to make with that statement.
He's trying to prove that music elitists can find some way to insert a jab at popular music in any conversation, regardless of the relevance.
As someone who works in the live audio industry, it pains me to see the people who stand directly in front of the speakers with no protection. Hearing loss is permanent and unpleasant. It's not something that just comes back.
Flying the other day, the guy sitting two seats across from me had his iPod turned up so loud that I could hear the drum rolls clearly, despite having 27dB drop earplugs in. For comparison's sake, when I listened (without the earplugs) to music for a little while when I worked on some code, I used a pair of Sony cheapie headphones. Held six inches from me, I couldn't hear the music above the noise of the airplane (again, without the earplugs).
The use of loud audio sources, both with portable audio devices and cell phones (I can often hear the sending side of a cell phone conversation from 15 feet away) is going to cause significant damage to the hearing of the "with it" generation.
For those curious why people are so intent on damaging their hearing, I'll give two facts:
1. People associate louder sound as being more impressive.
2. (partially related to 1) People perceive louder sound differently than softer sound. Our hearing system changes its frequency response based on how loud the source is, refered to as the Fletcher-Munson Curve(s).
The bottom line? Be aware of how loud you're listening to audio sources and protect yourself. Tinnitus is horrible (ringing in the ears), but it's also common to suffer damage in the 3-6 KHz range, where much of the understandability of speech is, leading to the situation of being able to hear but not make out what someone is saying. Turn down your cell phone and personal audio device, as well as your car stereo. If you're curious just how loud the audio in you life is, an SPL meter can easily be aquired at your local Rat Shack or online source. You might be surprised.
Obviously, we need more muff-type devices! I mean really, what problem couldn't be solved by making things more muff-like?
Amen to that. I'm from the Ted Nugent generation, and after many LOUD rock concerts (Thanks Hawkwind, for that Sonic Attack that really was), and two solid years of Joy Division and Big Black and other punk and new wave cranked in a factory environment during the infancy of the Walkman era, my ears ring constantly, and I DO have permanent hearing loss.
The ringing is so loud that I can't hear quiet sounds and certain frequencies. It can be extremely annoying too, just ask William Shatner.
Some of the jokes about this are pretty funny, but take a moment and take this stuff seriously, there is no cure for permanent hearing loss or tinnitus, and there may not be in your lifetime. Use high volume in moderation, wear ear plugs to concerts, and always use hearing protection around potentially damaging high volume noises in industry and sport.
Good headphones should be perfectly balanced. The most likely culprit is your volume control. Many volume controls don't track well, espically at lower volume levels, so you can get imbalances. Another possibility is that one channel of the amp is oscialting, or otherwise having problems. Either way, switch your source, I bet you find the headphones are equal volume.
You should know that's pretty much a worthless test. That's going to work for shit with consumer audio gear. It is way too far off a flat frequency response to be useful. That's made worse if it's done with speakers, where teh room will interfere.
If I were to do a test like that with my rather nice high-end consumer/low-end pro gear, I would conclude that my hearing was rather above the norm in the 1-2khz range, dipped around 100Hz, but went back up at 60Hz. If I were to repeat that with my rear speakers, Id' get different results.
However the real answer is, of course, my speakers are not flat and my room acoustics suck. The 1-2khz rise is mostly a property of the speakers, but is also partly room based, the 100Hz dip is almost entirely room based, and doesn't happen in other locations in the room. Indeed in a few locations the bass is almost crushing.
In case you are wondering, no I'm not basing this off my ears, I'm basing it off my calibration microphone.
Consumer gear is made to sound good, not be flat. Even exceedingly high end headphones don't have a flat response, it doesn't sound good. Using it to test hearing is rather worthless.
I am an audiologist.
This is a completely inaccurate and fully misleading "test"
1) It is very dependent on your setup.
2) Equivalent Loudness is not an accurate measure of hearing ability for too many reasons to name here. Suffice it to say that "thresholds" are how we audiologists measure it.
3) THE "DIAGNOSES" ARE WRONG. Completely. None of them are remotely correct. High-frequency hearing loss almost never indicates a wax buildup or middle ear dysfunction. Mid-frequency (2-5kHz) loss is NOT middle ear dysfunction. Low-frequency (250-500) loss does not indicate noise-induced hearing loss. THEY ARE ALL WRONG, DISREGARD THEM COMPLETELY. Diagnoses can only be given by an audiologist or an ENT physician. And not one of these are anywhere near correct.
4) Hearing loss above 10kHz is natural and doesn't mean anything. Further, persons with normal hearing need a much higher output level at 15kHz than at 500Hz to even detect sound.
The best way to test your hearing? Visit an audiologist. They can help you.
If you want a MUCH more accurate hearing screening, you can visit Freehearingtest.com. It's a screening... not very accurate, but much more so than this. And easy to do as well.
I suggest visiting wikipedia to learn more about hearing loss. Also, the American Academy of Audiology.
My rule for volume was that if somebody standing near me can hear it, even if it's just a quiet hum or just the beat, it's too loud. Every once and a while my boyfriend tells me he hears voices, which is his way of telling me to turn down my audiobook's volume.
The rule of thumb suggested by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital is to hold the volume of a music player no higher than 60 percent of the maximum, and use it for only about an hour a day.
Unfortunately, this recommendation is likely to fall on deaf ears.
Dear Will, the plums were poisoned. -- Cheese Club
Sweet, I have a pair of those too! You don't need to turn them up nearly as much as a pair of earbuds to get the same quality of sound, but yeah, I agree that turning it up just to block out background noise isn't just anti-social, it's unhealthy.
;-)
Those that say it's necessary in some situations (on a bus/train/etc) should really reconsider where and how they listen to music. Truly, the most enjoyable and healthy way to listen to music is with a quality stereo system in your living room, but if you must take your tunes to go, may I suggest this: use a pair of earbuds in your nose.
No, seriously. Place each earbud in your nostrils, close your lips but leave your jaw open. Then plug your ears and enjoy -- just remember to breathe every once in a while. Not only does this produce a really cool voice-in-your-head effect, you can crank your player to the max, and cut out the background noise without fear of hearing loss because it's resonating in your sinuses and mouth instead of your ear canals.
The downside: it diminishes the stereo effect some and people tend to look at you funny -- a small price to pay.
This sig rocks the casbah.
I have to disagree. I have some serious hearing loss due to listening to handheld music devices for most of my life. The nice incessent ringing in the background is a joy. Plus saying, "What did you say" about 100 times a week is rather bothersome. The worst part is the inability to hear when you're in a place with a lot of background noise. For example you cannot have a conversation in a restaurant without the people with you speaking very loudly. Not to mention people are always saying "tone it down" since I speak normally with an elevated level to hear myself (not intentionally).
Hearing loss is horrible, don't fuck with it.
First off, because they are custom molded to my ear, they don't put pressure on the ear canal in order to stay in place. Much more comfortable. The coolest thing is how they work though. When I first tried them on, I thought they weren't working very well. I could still hear everything just fine. It was rather odd. However, after wearing them a few times in high noise situations, I noticed something. When I left the noise...my ears weren't ringing. And that's the best part. I can hear everything and it sounds normal, and yet my ears are protected. Give 'em a try. Yes, they are expensive But they're protecting something you can't get back once you lose.
Stand clear of the doors. The doors are now closing.
The problem with headphones, ear-buds and In-Ear Monitors is exactly that we've blocked out the world around us. Our brains use environmental queues to help warn us when something we hear is too loud - before the onset of physical pain. The brain can determine how loud somthing is based on how the sound interacts with the space we're in. The brain uses similar methods to determine which direction a sound is coming from. Our insticts kick in when it gets too loud and we want to stick our fingers in our ears, even though we don't because we'll look "too old."
Another issue (which doesn't seem to have been brought up yet) is duration of exposure. I don't recall the exact figures (ask OSHA), but the idea is this: your ears can only do so much work in a given period of time. Loud noises work your ears more than soft ones, but sustained moderate-volume noises can work your ears as much if not more than loud noises. Once your ears pass their "working" threshold, you will start to damage them. Every time you leave a loud environment (like when the Who is in town) and you notice your ears ringing, you're noticing new permanent hearing damage.
As we age, our ears gradually sustain more permanent damage. Contrary to what many believe, there is currently no way to repair or reverse hearing damage, only ways to work with it. Hearing aids simply amplify noises we can no longer detect (thereby hastening further damage) and cochlear implants effectively replace the natural inner ear mechanism with an artificial one which while allowing the person to hear again probably doesn't sound as "right" as the original did.
In addition to loudness, other factors can contribute to hearing loss. Cigarrette smoke, alcohol, poor diet, poor sleeping habits, and CAFFEINE all increase a person's risk for hearing loss.
I started playing the drums when I was 10 years old, and I didn't wear earplugs regularly until my early twenties when I was studying audio engineering at Berklee College of Music. I suffer from tinitus (cronic ringing of the ears) and I've found that in addition to a good diet and plenty of water, the best way to reduce the ringing is to avoid caffeine, consume alcohol only moderately, and avoid smoky environments. I've also found that if I know I'm going to be in a loud environment (like a concert, seminar, party, etc), I can protect my ears by maintaining a softer environment for the rest of the day - ie, not listening to loud music, wearing earplugs when I'm walking down a city street or on the subway or in the car, etc.
I think everyone who has concerns about their hearing could benifit from this.