Published on January 11th, 2018 | by Guest

Are earphones more beneficial or harmful?

As technology advanced, it came with the introduction of smaller devices such as mobile phones which can be carried around in place of the table phone. The mobile phone has since transformed from being just a primary device to receive and make calls to being a camera and also a music player. There are also other devices such as the iPod and the older Discman that are used to listen to music on the go. However, there is one thing that goes hand in hand with these devices that you cannot fail to notice – earphones.

Benefits of earphones

Social etiquette

There is nothing as annoying as having to tolerate someone else’s choice of music or entertainment when they are put on speaker around you. Thus, if you are concerned about being proper in public, earphones will become second nature to you.

Smallbusiness sums up some of the benefits of using earphones quite succinctly:

Multitasking

When you use earphones, your hands are free to do any other task. You can go about your work without any trouble. And if you use one of the best wireless earbuds, it even gets better as you are free from any interference with the cord dangling or getting in your way.

Optimized sound quality

Any music buff knows how frustrating it is when you listen to your favorite song at a low quality. There is no way to hear all the details as the sound is poorly equalized. Sometimes, you may never even notice some parts of the song until you use an earphone. Even if you have to lay off the music and it is about your work or an oral examination, you would need the best wireless buds or earphones if you are aiming for excellence.

The award-winning engineers at xFyro audio created the most advanced pair of best bluetooth earbuds on the market, bringing next-generation technology today’s active listener.

Pingzic gives more interesting advantages of using earbuds:

They are easy to carry around. Imagine how ridiculous it would be if everyone had to go about with the stereo tied to their backs just to listen to music or enjoy their favourite program. With earphones, it is almost weightless to carry around.
It frees you from annoying interruptions. Everyone needs their ‘me-time’ and sometimes you cannot seem to get away from people. However, when you have your earbuds plugged in, it sends a perfect message that you are busy.
Earphones are comfortable to use especially when compared to headphones which are bulkier and are more noticeable. If comfort is your highest aim, you would even find wireless earbuds more desirable. The best wireless buds come with a thick padding which does not bother your ears.
Earphones can add some style to your outlook as they come in several designs and colours. You can look chic even with your earphones plugged in or even match the colour of the outfit with your earphones.

Harmful effects of earphones

As much as earphones are great, they also come with their downsides. Thus, you may want to consider the potentially harmful effects.

Healthfully.com outlines some of the ways in which the constant use of earphones can impact negatively on your health:

Getting ear infections

Since the ear is an opening in the body, it is prone to infections especially when foreign bodies are introduced. Your earphones can carry germs and get dirty especially when you place them on different surfaces. There is also the part of sharing it with someone else since it comes with two ears. You probably never thought you were sharing something more than a good time with a friend or loved one right?

Loss of hearing

It is common to find people gesticulating at a person who has earphones plugged in because they cannot hear them. This goes to show that many people who use earphones have their music turned on high volume. When such a habit is maintained over a long period, it can lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss. For more information about hearing loss click here.

Healthfully also sounds a note of warning about earphones which are directly inserted into the ears. This kind of earphones naturally give a better sound quality but can lead to a faster hearing loss. They recommend taking breaks in between the usage of this kind of earphones to give your ears a chance to recover.

Popsci.com concentrates more on not just giving earphones bad press but actually suggesting ways to use them safely which include:

Reducing use of earphones

It is common to find people especially teenagers who have their earphones plugged in throughout the day even when they are asleep! No wonder parents always wonder why chores never get done, lol – they just did not hear you giving the instructions. It is suggested that earphones usage be reduced to just an hour a day.

Earphones with noise cancellation

It has been proven that most people tend to turn up their volume because of the interference of noise around them. However, if you use earphones that support noise cancellation you would be able to keep your volume within the normal range. The best wireless earbuds are more likely to offer this feature than other types of earphones.

Crank down the volume

You are definitely in control of the volume and your earphones do not control you. It is safer for you to listen to music at the normal volume which should be higher than 60%. You can decide to still that urge that tells you instead to crank the volume up. When your volume is too high, you would not get alerted to the physical danger around you.

While earphones are not bad inherently, it is better to be safe than sorry in the way you make use of it. You may never get to appreciate your sense of hearing until you lose it and have to rack up medical bills to treat the condition (that is, it is not permanent). One other way you can ensure your safety is buying high-quality earphones as lower quality ones tend to give out uncontrolled and louder decibels. Therefore, you may want to invest in the best wireless buds to secure the safety of your ears.

Tags: beneficial, earphones, harmful