Wear headphones to listen to songs for a long time, it is best to use bone conduction headphones, which will not affect hearing.
Such a reminder you may have heard several times, whether wired or wireless, today's headphones have become a part of people's lives, naturally also caused a lot of health questions, such as long-term use of bone conduction headphones will affect the hearing?
The answer is yes.
The difference between bone conduction headphones and ordinary headphones is the conduction method, and eventually the sound will enter the ear, and wearing it for a long time and too much volume may damage the hearing.
What's different about bone conduction headphones?
Whether it is in-ear, earbuds, or headphones, the sound unit of ordinary headphones is directly facing the ear, and the sound is transmitted through the vibration in the air through the ear canal, reaches the eardrum, and finally converts into nerve signals that are understood by the brain, that is, the sound we hear.
▲AirPods Pro is a typical in-ear headphone
Bone conduction headphones conduct sound in a somewhat different way than ordinary headphones, generally speaking, bone conduction headphones are worn around the external structure of the ear, and the sound emitted by the vocal unit passes through the skin, the jaw or skull next to the teeth, reaches the vicinity of the cochlea, and is converted into nerve signals that are understood by the brain.
Comparatively speaking, bone conduction headphones do not pass through common ear structures such as eardrums during the process of sound conduction.
▲ Sound propagated by air vibration and conducted by bone. Image courtesy of headphonesty
But different conduction methods, the sound does not pass through the eardrum, does not mean that the bone conduction headphones will not affect the hearing.
Near the cochlear structure that must be passed during the transmission of sound by bone conduction headphones, there are a large number of ear hair cells, which are generally responsible for converting vibrations into nerve electrical signals, so that the brain can parse the sound and eventually be "heard".
Prolonged high volume output will accelerate the death of ear hair cells, because the cells themselves are non-renewable, once too much death, it will damage the hearing, and in the long run, it will only become more and more serious.
As we mentioned in a previous article, according to ISO 1999-2013 "Estimation of Acoustics – Noise-Induced Hearing Loss", when noise exceeds 85 decibels, the likelihood of hearing damage will increase significantly, and the noise of interior decoration is likely to exceed this standard.
ISO 1999 and what noise "looks like", image from: CDC website.
The special sound conduction method is one of the reasons for the advantages of the bone conduction headphone experience, but it is also its weakness in terms of volume control, ordinary in-ear headphones directly into the ear canal, the sound source is closer, and it can also block some external noisy ambient sounds.
Bone conduction headphones open wearing mode, will make the ambient sound and headphone music play sound at the same time transmitted to the ear, in order to hear the song or call sound clearly, people will unconsciously increase the volume, it is easy to exceed the standard line, greatly increasing the risk of hearing damage.
Another frequently mentioned feature of bone conduction headphones is the wearing comfort, the open wearing method will not be the same as the in-ear headphones, so that the ears produce a significant foreign body feeling, coupled with the fact that many bone conduction headphones now work the external material, using skin-friendly, sweat-proof materials, wearing comfort is further improved.
However, this comfort does not necessarily apply to everyone, the human body is very special, and everyone's ear structure is different.
Just mentioned that the bone conduction headphone structure is special, is to surround the outer ear of the way to wear, its occurrence unit will often be close to the temple nearby, after a long time of wearing, some people may be because not adapt to the wearing style or the temple pressure is too large, resulting in a feeling of vertigo.
Maintaining good wearing habits, not using it for a long time, and lowering the volume is always the most important way to protect hearing.
Bone conduction headphones are a supplement to ordinary headphones
Bone conduction headphones do have their limitations, but as long as they are used correctly, there are actually many advantages.
Ordinary earbuds, in-ear headphones, a long time of use, it is easy to cause ear itching and other symptoms, this is because long-term wearing of headphones to block the ears, the internal earwax accumulation for a long time may cause allergies or bacterial infections, and even cause inflammation in severe cases.
Everyone's ear canal structure is different, the shape of the headset is almost fixed, at most it is to adjust the size of the earbuds, so many people will be because of the different ear structure, resulting in long-term wearing discomfort, often feel sore.
Bone conduction headphones do not need to enter the ear, naturally there are no problems, and the open wearing method does not make people miss important sounds in the environment, such as the call of parents.
Of course, the open-ended wearing method will also be heard by people around you, and it is recommended to use it at a lower volume.
If you feel uncomfortable wearing in-ear or ordinary earbud headphones, you can try bone conduction headphones, in a long period of time, wearing, listening to music without a sense of vertigo, indicating that the body can normally adapt to bone conduction headphones.
As a wearable device that is in direct contact with the body, it is best to choose headphones based on personal experience.
Another often mentioned advantage of bone conduction headphones is that they are suitable for athletes, bone conduction headphones can directly hear environmental sounds, and can be used to observe traffic conditions when sprinting outdoors, and the sound of cars and bicycles can ensure sports safety.
Some bone conduction headphones are also waterproof and can be worn while swimming or even diving.
To say that the most well-known advantage of bone conduction headphones is to let some people with hearing impairment hear "clear" sounds again.
Bone conduction headphones skip parts such as eardrums during sound transmission, and if the jumped part is damaged, it is still possible that the sound may be transmitted to the cochlea through bone structures such as the skull, so that people can hear the sound.
▲ Image from: road
Bone conduction headphones are more like a supplement to ordinary headphones, the body does not adapt to ordinary headphones, you can try, with their own experience feedback to make adjustments.
Finally, to sum up:
Bone conduction headphones are not absolutely guaranteed to be hearing-impairing, and should be deactivated in time if there is a vertigo sensor when used
Maintaining correct usage habits is the most important way to protect hearing, reduce long-term loud use, practical application can refer to the "60-60 principle", the volume is less than 60%, and the continuous wearing time does not exceed 60 minutes
In outdoor sports, swimming and other scenes that require attention to ambient sound, bone conduction headphones do have advantages