Enjoy Music? Protect Your Ears With These Tips

Noise-related hearing loss doesn't just affect individuals who work in loud environments, such as construction workers or heavy metal roadies. It doesn't even have to be work-related, leisure-related noise exposure can be damaging, too. The most prevalent kind? Music, gaming, streaming video or anything else that you would listen to through earbuds or headphones.

You may not realize your smartphone or tablet can get that loud. The ordinary pain threshold for human hearing is roughly 150 db which is in the range of these devices. Your ears will literally start to hurt at this volume. So what's the answer for protecting your ears against volume related injury.

It's relevant here to think about the volume. An easy shorthand that's widely recommended is the 60/60 rule: Listen with the volume at or below 60% for 60 minutes or less in a single session (because how long you listen for matters, too).

Your Hearing Aids Can be Set up For Listening to Music

Make certain, if you're wearing hearing aids, you don't attempt to drown out other noises by cranking your streaming music up too loud. In addition, consult us about how to best listen to music. If you're a musician or real music aficionado you may have recognized that most hearing aids are created to sharpen the clarity of voices…not necessarily music. While listening to music, we can most likely make a few adjustments to help improve the sound quality and decrease the feedback.

How to Choose The Best Headphones

If you don't have hearing aids, there are many options for shopping for headphones. There are a few things to consider, although it's mostly a matter of personal choice.

Over-the-Ear Headphones

While the foam-covered speakers that was included with your old Walkman are generally a thing of the past, over-the-ear headphones have had a resurgence. Often shockingly costly, they offer lots of color possibilities and celebrity endorsements, and yes, exceptional sound quality. And these headphones cover the whole ear limiting unwanted sound, unlike those old foam ones.

Conventional perception is that these are less dangerous than in-ear headphones because the source of the sound is further away from your eardrum. But the reality is they're usually able to reach louder sound than their smaller kin, the speakers are much larger. Additionally, noise-canceling might help you ignore the crying baby on your flight, but in other circumstances, it can silence sounds you should hear (such as a honking car). With that being said, because they block out outside sound, you can normally reduce the volume of what you're listening to so it's not loud enough to injure your hearing.

Earbuds

The normal earbuds that are included with devices like iPhones are known for their inferior sound quality, but because they come with your phone many people still use them. Plus, with newer models that don't have a headphone jack, staying with Apple's earbuds can simply be easier.

Earbuds also don't block out noise so the drawback is, you have a tendency to turn up the sound level. Once again,, though it's often said that earbuds are a problem because you put them into your ear so their speakers are extremely close to your eardrum, actually volume is the biggest problem.

Earbuds That Block Outside Noise

Lots of people opt for earbuds with a rounded, rubbery tip both because they're more comfy than normal earbuds and more effective at blocking outside noises. A seal that stops outside sound from getting in is formed by the rubber tip which molds to the shape of the ear. But these earbuds can also block out noises you might need to hear and volume is still the primary issue. Needless to say, these won't work for you if you have hearing aids.

You might need to test out quite a few pairs before you find headphones that do the job. Depending on what you're most often using them for say talking on the phone, as opposed to listening to music, you'll have unique acoustic expectations. The significant thing is to find headphones that make it comfortable for you to enjoy at a safe volume.

Don't Cut Corners When it Comes to Your Hearing

Is it Safe, How Can I be Sure? There's an app for that…If you use a smartphone, you can download the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's free Sound Level Meter app. There are different apps out there, but research has discovered that the reliability of these other apps is hit-and-miss (also, for unknown reasons, Android-based apps have been shown to be less reliable). That prompted NIOSH to develop their own app. The app enables you to measure outside noises, but it's also possible to measure the sound coming from your device's speakers, so you will know exactly how much volume your ears are getting. You have to put in a little effort, but putting in place these kinds of protective measures can help safeguard your ears.