• Question: Do headphones damage your ears?

    Asked by africa96 to Aime, Akshat, Diana, Gemma, Judith on 17 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Gemma Sharp

      Gemma Sharp answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Loud music listened to through headphones can damage your ears, yes. The headphones focus the noise so it’s more likely to cause damage. If you listen to loud music every day then you might end up with permanently damaged hearing.

      I once went to a gig and stood way too close to the speaker. The music was deafening, like so loud it actually hurt! After that my ears were ringing (that’s called tinnitus) and I couldn’t hear very well for about 3 days. I felt like I was living in a bubble! Not recommended.

    • Photo: Diana Samuel

      Diana Samuel answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Outwardly, no – unless you get injured whilst wearing them or try to push the ‘in ear’ headphones in too far! But as Gemma said, listening to loud music, podcasts (etc) on a continual basis can lead to a long-term hearing impairment. Bear in mind that if you’re listening to something in order to drown out other sounds (e.g. if you listen to music when you’re in the gym, and want to be able to hear it over the noise of the machines), you may not be aware of just HOW loud it is because you just keep pressing the volume button till you only hear what you want to hear – so be careful.

    • Photo: Judith McCann

      Judith McCann answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Gemmas answer pretty much covers it…I’ve done temporary deafness after a gig too,apparently your ears are designed so when something is really loud you stop hearing it so intensely-the hearing comes back gradually(normally).it’s a defence mechanism from your body.

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