Do headphones damage ears more than speakers?

Question

Hello dudes, my dad is telling my 24/7 to take my headphones off and it's driving me NUTS.

The thing is, when I'm using headphones I usually set them at a lower volume than when I use my speakers. Sometimes I wear them even when I'm not listening to anything. Then my dad comes along and yells;

"Take your headphones off!!"

I respond with;

"I'm not listening to anything!!."

He blurts;

"They damage your ears EVEN when you're not listening to anything!"

Wtf? Should I pack up my speakers then? My ears should be long gone by now.

What do you know about this? Is "Wearing dead headphones damages your ears" not as ridiculous as "Wearing clothes damages skin."? I would think the semi-anachoic environment the silent headphones give me serve to protect my ears, not harm them!

Also, like the title says, is there any evidence that supports the claim that using headphones at the same volume as speakers is more damaging to your ears?

Answer 1

I think that if you wera headphones while ploalying loud music it damages  your ears. If you wear your headphones with nothing playing it won't damage your ears in my mind. I think speakers are better than headphones as they don't do as much damage. :D:D

Answer 2

They recommend that after a session of loud music through headphones, to let the ears rest in total silence to help recover.    What better way to let them rest than with headphones that are turned off?

So yes, listening to music through headphones is much worse than listening to it through speakers, but no, having them on your ears with nothing playing hurts nothing.  

So yes, wearing your headphones when nothing is playing is HELPING your ears....it's just like wearing hearing protection in a loud environment.

Your dad is wrong.

Answer 3

Sounds to me like you are fairly aware of the issue with headphones, but we can all learn more.

It's all a matter of loudness and exposure time.

Damage to hearing MAY be more prevalent from headphones (the sound is concentrated in the ear canal and, particularly if the earbuds "seal" the ear, loudness can easily reach levels that damage the ear. (Although these types of headphones are, in some ways and if used carefully, preferable to the "open" style because they isolate the listener from surrounding sound, reducing the need to turn up the volume to overcome ambient sound).

That all said, it's not just music and headphones we need to be aware of. ANY noise at high levels -- at the ear -- will damage hearing if loud enough and/or exposure is long enough. That's why OSHA Regulations (worker safety) limit exposure at various levels as follows:

90 dbA 8 hrs

92 dbA 6 hrs

95 dbA 4 hrs

97 dbA 3 hrs

100 dbA 2 hrs

102 dbA 1.5 hrs

105 dbA 1 hr

110 dbA 0.5 hr

115 dbA 0.25 hr or less

Note it is total daily exposure that matters.  It's easy for habitual headphone wearers (that's you!) to accumulate damage even at relatively low volumes. And, arguably, many headphone wearers expose themselves to music for longer periods than most speaker listeners. Furthermore a Swedish study found that using headphones during aerobic exercise is twice as likely to lead to hearing loss as when not exercising, because exercise diverts blood from the ears, making them more prone to sound induced damage.

So ... yes ... there is evidence that headphones can be worse than speakers.

As to your father, he is obviously concerned that you not damage your hearing --- and you should appreciate and acknowledge he has reason to be concerned. That said, his concerns must be credible, and saying that no sound is damaging isn't.

I suggest you research the topic and share the information and show him that you are aware of the risks and responsible enough to minimize them. Of course, if he is REALLY objecting to what he perceives as anti social behaviour that's another issue and you'll need to talk about it.

For more details see the link (if it works ...Y!A is having a problem!).

Find more by Googling with terms like "hearing loss" "damage" "loudness" "ear".

Hope this helps.