Doctors advise anyone who has the habit of listening to music over headphones for a long time, especially during work, to use 60% of the volume for each hour of listening. When you break this rule, you may experience a number of problems, such as sleep disorders. These are just some of the effects that headphones can have on your body if you use them without limitations!
Headphones seem to be everywhere nowadays. Many people use them constantly with electronic devices: phones, computers, tablets, laptops, and when playing video games. These accessories have become a part of everyday life. At the office, headphones are used by many employees to help them focus and filter out distracting background noise, while ensuring that the music they listen to does not bother others. Headphones offer many advantages in the digital age, but what happens when you use them for hours in a row?
You may have a wax blockage in your ears
Accumulation of earwax may occur in the ears because headphones stop the wax from coming out of the ear canals naturally. As a result, the ears can become blocked, which may lead to an ear infection. Moreover, headphones act like cotton swabs and can push the earwax deeper into the ear canal, which may lead to earaches and dizziness.
You may develop a disease called vertigo
Vertigo is a sensation of rotation and loss of balance, an illusion of movement that does not exist. It is often accompanied by nausea and dizziness. It may happen when the ears are obstructed by headphones that act as sound insulators. The additional factor that may cause vertigo is listening to music at a high volume. When we place these small objects in our ears, we stimulate the inner ear, and an unnatural pressure develops inside it.
Headaches may occur frequently
Those who wear headphones for too long are exposed to pressures that never develop naturally. As a result, the scalp and inner ear are compressed, which may lead to headaches. Wearing headphones may also make migraines worse if you are prone to them.
Hearing may be affected
Most adults around the age of about 30 should be able to hear a 17 kHz sound, which means that they should be able to hear a mosquito approaching. The truth is that more and more young people lose part of their hearing. We all have about 15,000 hearing cells at birth, but once we start losing them, we cannot recover them. Scientists link the problem of early hearing loss to the frequent use of headphones.
How to combat the negative effects of excessive use of headphones
Signs of noise-induced hearing loss include difficulty hearing loud noises and conversations in noisy environments, difficulty hearing what the other person says during a telephone conversation, difficulty distinguishing consonants, and frequently needing to turn up the volume on the TV or radio. If you wear headphones for more than an hour a day, make sure that they are good quality ones. Take breaks, keep the volume at medium, and clean the headphones regularly before using them. Also, check your hearing with an ENT specialist on a regular basis.