Addicted to Smart Hearing Devices? Be mindful… – ET HealthWorld

New Delhi: The constant buzz in the ears be it listening to loud music or having never-ending conversations and attending constant office meetings, is pushing a lot of youngsters to sensorineural hearing loss. Nearly 1.1 billion, young people are at risk of potentially life-altering hearing loss, due to increased noise exposure, inform experts. They warn that the Millenials and GenZ are prone to noise-induced hearing loss.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss and at least 700 million will require hearing rehabilitation. Over 1 billion young adults are at risk of permanent, avoidable hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices. The sound waves from earphones reach our ears and cause the eardrum to vibrate. This vibration travels through the small bones into the inner ear and onto the cochlea, the fluid-filled chamber in the inner ear made up of thousands of tiny “hairs.” When this vibration reaches the cochlea, the fluid vibrates, causing the hair to move. The louder the sound, the stronger the vibration, and the more the hair moves it gets damaged.

Speaking to ETHealthworld, ENT specialists and audiologists inform that there is a drastic increase in patients with neural loss over the past two years, particularly post-COVID due to increased use of headphones and earphones.

Constant noise exposure puts hearing at risk

Increased noise exposure can be in any form, but more so because of the constant use of headphones and earphones attached to smart devices leading to sensorineural hearing loss, informed Dr Prarthana Jagtap, ENT consultant, Global Hospitals, Parel. “WHO sets hearing limits. These devices can produce sounds up to 120 decibels, which is potentially severely damaging to the inner ear cells, and even an exposure of 10 to 15 minutes, anything more than five minutes can cause permanent hearing damage at those levels,” he added.

Speaking about how headphones damage the ear by causing auditory fatigue, Dr G Srinivas Reddy, Senior Consultant, ENT Surgeon, Apollo Hospital, Hyderguda, said, “Occupational noise is the most frequently studied type of noise exposure. A recent addition is the environmental noise from regular traffic and social noise exposure, like the use of Personal Listening Devices (PLD) from mobile phones or MP3 players which have become an inseparable part of our daily life it is leading to tinnitus (ringing sensation), and hearing loss. It also leads to non-auditory effects like cardiovascular disease and general well-being like headache, lack of focus; increased stress and anxiety; learning disabilities, annoyance, sleep disturbance, and inability to concentrate.”Elucidating further, Dr ChandraVeer Singh, Consultant Otorhinolaryngologist, Head Neck Onco Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, said, “Basically, our ear is made of three compartments. The first is the external layer, the other one is the middle layer which contains cochlea and nerve and the third is the inner ear. These Bluetooth devices and headphones create sensorineural hearing loss. They damage the inner hair cells that are responsible for hearing. This is more in people aged 40 to 50 years earlier, but nowadays due to the earphone or earplugs, there is an increased incidence of hearing loss in people of much younger age.”

Dr Singh added that every week, three or four patients come with the complaint of noise-induced hearing loss or pain and it is the age group of younger generations. The inner ear which contains outer and inner hair cells gets harmed by gadgets.

Mentioning about the decibels which can lead to hearing loss, Dr Garima Vegivada, Audiologist, and Clinical Director, Hear ‘N’ Say clinic stated that exposure of 85 dB, for continued 8 hours per day can cause hearing loss and as sound levels increase to 90-95 dB, lesser time duration also causes hearing loss. A decibel ranging from 105 to 110 dB can cause damage in five minutes to the ears.

Many times to be secluded from the crowded and noisy world, many plug-in into these gadgets to fence around them, but they don’t realise that such relaxation for a prolonged amount of time is creating an irreparable loss to ears and even brain. ENT specialists inform that smart devices like AirPods, Bluetooth, headphones, or earphones have an irreversible impact.

Transition from smart hearing gadgets to hearing aid

Noting that there has been a drastic increase in patients with neural loss over the past two years, post COVID due to increased use of headphones and earphones, Dr Jagtap said, “As a device gets smaller it penetrates deep inside the ear and tends to have the propensity to produce larger amounts of damage. If it is more than 100 decibels even 15 minutes can damage the ears. Many to overcome environmental noise tend to increase the volume of the music they listen to, not realising that they’re crossing the dangerous threshold limit.”

Talking about Bluetooth devices, Dr Singh said, “The rays coming from the Bluetooth device that is known for electromagnetic field technology raise serious health concerns. Many say these rays can cause cancer but it is not proven yet. But these rays will definitely cause headaches, migraines, and bluetooth devices are more dangerous and headphones are less dangerous, they will produce less suffering over hearing loss in comparison to Airpods.”

Adding to it, Dr Vegivada informed that sharing AirPods can transfer bacteria, which can cause ear infections. Prolonged usage will cause ear pain and as AirPods come in standard size, not custom-made, wearing the wrong size of earbuds pushes this hard plastic to your skin and ear cartilage, causing unnecessary pressure and discomfort.

The doctors inform that the prolonged pressure to the ears will lead to noise-induced hearing loss — tinnitus (symptoms of tinnitus are a consistent buzzing, humming, or ringing in one or both ears), hyperacusis, hearing loss, or dizziness.

Turning down the noise clutter — the only option

Doctors inform that the rule is 60/60, you can listen to 60 decibels for 60 minutes, then one should give rest to the ears. According to experts, there can be both temporary and permanent damage.

“In temporary damage, medication can reverse the loss, but a larger percentage of people who have sustained exposure to these loud noises suffer a permanent threshold shift and that unfortunately is irreversible and eventually you have to move on to rehabilitation with hearing aids and other things,” Dr Jagtap said.

Dr Vegivada suggests using any ear-plug-in less than two hours a day with a sound level lesser than 70-80 dB, or asking to shift to speakers or far-off devices like Alexa to a considerable distance for preventing hearing loss.

“Most of the people who are using headphones are using it with their smart devices. And a lot of them have started coming with in-built controls. Now, you can go into your settings and alter that without exceeding the threshold. It can prevent inadvertent damage. Taking breaks from the headphone is a must. For people who have professional exposure and who cannot avoid using such gadgets, it is mandatory to go for regular auditory checkups,” Dr Jagtap added.

The ENT specialists and audiologists voice out that any personal listening device can create an oasis of privacy, but its prolonged incessant usage is harmful. They inform that only self-realization to limit the decibel levels and inculcating healthy listening habits will help them to prevent themselves from hearing loss in the long run.

  • Published On May 29, 2023 at 06:42 PM IST

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