Loud listening to music through headphones, especially in the subway, can lead to unpleasant consequences for the hearing, there is also a risk of sulfur plugs and trauma to the skin of the external ear canal if the earmolds are incorrectly selected. The interviewed doctors warned about such dangers of the accessory RIA Novosti.
Andrei Kryukov, chief freelance otorhinolaryngologist at the Moscow Department of Health, warned that hearing problems could arise with excessive uncontrolled sound amplification. It is also important to choose the right silicone earmolds so that they do not fall out and at the same time do not harm the delicate skin of the external ear canal. Trauma to this area leads to infection and the development of the inflammatory process. In addition, it is important to frequently wipe and treat headphones with antimicrobial agents.
He also did not recommend that Russians listen to music in the subway, since the noise in the carriages is from 80 to 95 decibels, and therefore the volume in the headphones has to be increased to a maximum of 120 decibels. “The organ of hearing is designed for maximum comfortable sound from 75 to 90 decibels, that's when loud sound protection is triggered. (…) Sound over 100 decibels is the threshold of pain, “Kryukov warned.
Elena Zagorskaya, a leading researcher at the Department of Audiology and Inner Ear Pathology at the Sverzhevsky Institute of Otorhinolaryngology, drew attention to the likelihood of a sulfur plug. “When you insert an earpiece into your ear, the sulfur that covers the skin of the external auditory canal and carries a protective function, softening, disinfecting, nourishing the skin of the ear canal, moves deeper. In this case, the sulfur does not have time to dry out and self-remove from the ear, it accumulates in the ear canal and forms a sulfur plug, ”she explained.
Moreover, if the sulfuric plug affects the eardrum for a long time, then an inflammatory process in the middle ear may occur – otitis media. You can also damage the middle and inner ear by suddenly removing the vacuum earphone, thus causing barotrauma.
Earlier, Alexander Timofeev, associate professor of the Department of Informatics of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, said that the main danger of wireless headphones is that they emit electromagnetic waves near the human brain. This is especially true for copies of the original gadgets. To check the safety of the gadget, the expert suggested putting the phone down and moving away to a certain distance in the headphones connected to it. If the signal becomes weak at a distance of several meters, then the headphones are safe.
