Expert: Excessive volume can still cause damage, should follow the 60-60 principle
March 3 this year is the 23rd National Ear Day and the 10th International Ear Day.
Many young people like to walk and run with headphones, and sometimes they wear headphones to try to isolate themselves from the surrounding noisy environment on noisy subways and buses.
Many people know that frequent use of headphones is not good for hearing, so they will choose higher-priced noise-cancelling headphones or bone conduction headphones within the range that they can afford.
So, do these headphones really protect our hearing?
What problems should I pay attention to when using headphones?
correspondent juno
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Yu Dandan
Noise-induced deafness is difficult to reverse, and noise-cancelling headphones may also damage hearing
The occurrence of noise-induced deafness has a certain concealment, and it is not easy to be recognized by people in the early stage. At the same time, noise-induced deafness belongs to sensorineural deafness. Once it occurs, it is difficult to reverse. At present, there is no effective treatment method for noise-induced deafness. It is very important to prevent the occurrence of noise-induced deafness.
Noise reduction, as the name suggests, is to reduce the impact of noise on people.
Wang Yuhong, chief physician of the Department of Otolaryngology, Nanjing Second Hospital, mentioned that there are more and more opportunities for noise exposure in life, and noise exposure in work and personal entertainment environments may lead to noise-induced hearing loss.
The so-called "active noise reduction" function advertised by headphone manufacturers means that the noise-cancelling headphones emit a sound in the opposite phase to the noise, which interferes with the noise in the ear to cancel the noise.
It eliminates the common noises of everyday life without affecting warning sounds like the blaring horn in an emergency.
Director Wang Yuhong emphasized that even with noise-cancelling headphones, excessive sound output in the headphones may damage hearing.
Therefore, regardless of "noise-canceling headphones", reducing the noise in the ear canal is the king of hearing protection.
Bone conduction headphones do not fit into the ear and can also damage the hair cells of the inner ear
In addition, the "bone conduction headphones" that appeared as "black technology" are very popular among many fitness people and outdoor enthusiasts.
Bone conduction is a method of sound conduction, that is, the sound waves are transmitted through the human skull, auditory nerve, etc.
It does not need to cover the ears or block the ear canal like traditional headphones to achieve the purpose of listening, so it has the effect of protecting the ears.
Bone conduction headphones are generally very small in size, and are more suitable for sports scenes than sports headphones.
Experts point out that, whether using bone conduction or air conduction, both earphones ultimately make the hair cells of the inner ear vibrate to induce hearing.
If the volume is too loud, it can still damage the hair cells, which can damage hearing.
Always wear headphones to listen to music, you should follow the 60-60 principle
In addition, the quality of headphones on the market is uneven.
The reporter learned that the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration had previously conducted risk monitoring for active noise reduction headphones. Among the 60 pairs of headphones involving 47 companies, as many as 30 pairs of headphones with active noise reduction less than 10 decibels, some of which are lower than 5 decibels, accounting for more than 10%, the noise reduction ability is seriously insufficient.
Director Wang Yuhong suggested that people who often wear headphones to listen to music should follow the 60-60 principle, that is, the volume of listening to music should not exceed 60% of the maximum volume, and the continuous use of headphones should not exceed 60 minutes.
After short-term or long-term tinnitus, you should stop wearing headphones in time, and go to a regular hospital for medical treatment in time to test your hearing in order to detect invisible hearing loss, so as to achieve early attention, early detection, early intervention, and early treatment.