Technology is progressing every day. Along with its comfort and luxury comes their bad effect on health. You will find people using headphones or earphones everywhere, be it metro’s, trains, buses and even while jogging or walking. In this today’s trend, headphones and earphones are one such technology that is associated with many hidden health issues that most of the youngsters are unaware.
“Do you sometime just hear a random beep sound, and are worst when the background sound is low? Then you are already suffering from tinnitus due to headphones. Technology and gadgets are to make our lives easy, but should be used in limit. Avoid tiny earphones that directly go into the ear canal. Make sure the earphones are sanitized before using. In addition, do not use them while travelling unless it is necessary.” says Dr T Srinivasan (General Physician), Gleneagles Global Hospitals.
Mentioned below are some more hazards of headphones and earphones:
Hear Loss or Hearing Complications: -On wearing headphones or earphones with volume over 90 decibels, it could result in having hearing complications or hear loss. If anyone listens at more than 100 decibels for more even 15 minutes, he can face hearing complications. Prolonged exposure to loud sounds is the most common cause of tinnitus. Up to 90% of people with tinnitus have some level of noise-induced hearing loss. To escape from such complications give some rest to your earphones and do not listen to music in high volume.
Ear Infections: - Do you share your earphones with your family and friends? Ever thought if this practice is really safe? Then, No! Sharing earphones with others is definitely not safe as there are high chances of you having an ear infection. It happens because; the bacteria from ears of different people effortlessly travel through headphones. So next time you use it, ensure sanitizing it.
No Air Passage: -Now days, there are earphones that deliver excellent audio experience, but with best audio experience comes health risk. Earphones are built to insert in the ear canal that blocks the air passage which could result in higher ear infection risk. In most of cases, people who use regular earphones and headphones experience more ear wax which results in tinnitus, ear infection and even problem in hearing.
Numbness and Pain in the Ear: -New Studies suggest that people who use earphones quiet often are prone to loud music can leave the ear numb for a while. Although this numbness comes back to normal, but this numbness on a long run can be fatal and may cause deafness. You will feel some strange and different sounds buzzing in your ears. Most of the people who regularly tend to use earphone visit doctor with a complaint of severe ear pain.
Negative effect on Brain: -Earphones these days produce some electromagnetic waves that can be dangerous for your brain. Although, there are no strong evidence that have proved the theory, but daily users of Bluetooth and earphones have been found to have some or other sort of brain related problems. The inner ear is directly linked to the brain; even a little infection in the inner ear can directly affect the brain and can lead to serious health concerns.
Written by:-
Dr Talacheru Srinivasulu, MD,
Consultant General Physician and Diabetologist.
Gleneagles Global Hospitals.
