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Listening to music can be incredibly good for our health. This is most obvious when it comes to mental improvements like mood regulation and anxiety relief, but regularly listening to music is also linked to more surprising physical benefits, like lower blood pressure, memory improvements, and even an increased ability to deal with pain. Unfortunately, there is a catch, and it comes in the form of what extended listening can do to your hearing health.
There are pretty strong links between listening to music and losing your hearing, especially if you use headphones. That’s largely because people who listen to music in this way do so at worryingly high decibels, often for extended periods. Does that mean you should never listen to music again? Absolutely not! But you may want to keep reading to find out how loud and long you should actually be blasting those songs.
What Damage Can Incorrect Headphone Usage Actually Do?
Before we get into the hearing health technicalities, let’s answer an important question: what harm can headphones actually do to your ears? To be honest, there’s no simple answer to this, as it really depends on your usage. We’ll get into that a little later, but for now, it’s worth noting that hearing issues commonly caused by headphones can include –
- Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL): Noise-induced hearing loss is by far the most common headphone conundrum, and it happens when you listen to loud music for extended periods. This is a permanent form of inner-ear damage, which will often begin with high-frequency loss that worsens over time.
- Tinnitus: It’s not uncommon to experience a humming or buzzing sound in your ears after listening to loud music, but ongoing headphone usage can turn this into a permanent problem. Also known as tinnitus, these inner-ear sounds are common alongside NIHL, and can be incredibly difficult to address.
- Ear fatigue: Extended headphone usage is a leading cause of ear fatigue, which impacts the ear’s cells and can eventually contribute to hearing loss, as well as temporary auditory overwhelm.
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The Link Between Length and Volume
You probably came to this article hoping for clear-cut time and volume recommendations. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. Or, at least, not entirely.
As a general rule, experts recommend keeping sounds below 85dB and listening for no longer than five hours a week, split across sessions no longer than two hours at a time. But that’s an incredibly simplified outlook on a surprisingly complex issue. So, we’re going to dive a little deeper.
Ultimately, the ‘right’ volume and timing depend entirely on one another. For instance, at the volume limit that most modern devices are set to (105 to 110 dB), hearing damage can occur in as little as five minutes. By comparison, hearing damage is unlikely over even longer periods of listening at just 70 dB. This is worrying because it means that many of us are listening at dangerously high levels without knowing it. But it also shows how much better lower levels can be for you.
Diving even deeper, you may stumble across something known as the ‘60/60 rule’, which is the closest to a clear-cut headphone usage guide that we know of. According to this rule, it’s advised that you listen at no higher than 60% volume for no longer than 60 minutes at a time on any device. This removes any room for doubt and frees you to enjoy music’s benefits, without falling foul of the downsides of noise exposure.
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Other Top Tips for Healthy Listening
While the 60/60 rule might be a great general guide for loudness and length while using headphones, it’s not a standalone guarantee to ongoing hearing health. In fact, if this is the only piece of advice you heed, then you could soon find yourself experiencing the very hearing problems you’re trying to avoid. That’s because the 60/60 rule was only ever designed to work alongside other healthy listening habits, the most important of which we’ll consider here –
# 1 – The Need for Regular Breaks
Regular listening breaks are by far the most effective method for reducing everyday ear fatigue, and it’s especially important to bear this in mind when listening to music. While you might want to get lost in the groove of those beats for hours on end, it’s never a good idea to do so.
But what do healthy hearing breaks actually look like? Again, that’ll depend entirely on the volumes you’re listening at. For high volumes, breaks every five minutes are key, while listening for periods of around 60 minutes at lower volumes should be acceptable.
During your listening breaks, it’s important to spend time in a quiet room, where you can get some true listening rest. If this isn’t possible, using earplugs or ear defenders can help to drown out the noise that might otherwise harm your hearing.
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# 2 – Choosing Headphones Carefully
Your choice of headphones can also have a major impact on how your ears fare throughout your listening sessions. It’s especially worth choosing over-ear headphones, as you’ll hear sounds as much as 9dB quieter at this level of removal.
Other features to look out for include noise-cancelling headphones that make it less likely you’ll need to increase volumes to beat outside noise. Sound quality can also make a huge difference in ensuring that you hear those songs better, without needing to crank the volume.
# 3 – Set Your Own Volume Limits
As discussed, the preset volume limits on most devices are often significantly higher than they should be. Sometimes, though, you’ll be able to set your own volume limits, which can serve as a helpful reminder to keep the noise down. Simply bear in mind that these self-imposed restrictions shouldn’t exceed the 60% mark, or else you could still be leaving your ears at risk.
Listening to music is key to health in a variety of ways. Enjoy those benefits without the downsides by perfecting headphone use with these key points in mind.
*This article is based on personal suggestions and/or experiences and is for informational purposes only. This should not be used as professional advice. Please consult a professional where applicable.