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Damage from long term earbud use?
The LandoStander
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I have a fairly standard data entry job for the foreseeable future, 8 hours a day five days a week. We're allowed to listen to music at work provided we use earphones or earbuds etc. I'm just using the standard buds that came with my Zune but I worry that day in and day out of wearing them may somehow give me problems down the road. I actually listen to NPR most of the time so it's not so much the blaring music and such but the physical presence of the bud pushed into my ear that gives me a little concern.
If something other than just switching of between a simple five dollar pair of headphones is recommended let me know if you've found a particularly ergonomic/comfortable brand of listening device.
If something other than just switching of between a simple five dollar pair of headphones is recommended let me know if you've found a particularly ergonomic/comfortable brand of listening device.
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That doesn't mean you could then crank up the volume, but personally I find them a WHOLE lot more comfortable than earbuds.
As for earbuds, the common problem is high volume use, which can cause hearing loss. However, earbuds can also cause fatigue, due to how they're crammed into your ear, and can be painful or cause headaches if you use them for a long period of time. They can also cause earwax issues, as you're pushing them into your ear and potentially pushing earwax deeper into your ear canal, which can potentially build up.
If you're not maxing the volume, the other problems are relatively minor, and non-permanent. If you can afford it, though, you'll probably find nicer headphones more comfortable and sounding better. I'd suggest ordering from, say, Amazon, rather than going to a local store, as most local stores sell overpriced crap when it comes to headphones (that are focused more on style than actual sound reproduction).
However, I would always have preferred a good set of over the ear cans for something stationary like Thanatos suggested.
I have, and love, the Sennheiser CX-300. They do exactly this and keep the volume down to relatively low levels.
As for the headphones, I have the Sennheiser HD201's which are simply amazing for the $20 they cost on Amazon. They're not completely circumaural, as I remember (they are at 'home', which is about 6000 miles away and has been for a year...so the exact fit is a little fuzzy in my memory).
If you're trying to use your earbuds to cancel out outside noise your doing it wrong. As thanatos said get noise-canceling full-cover headphones from Sennheiser or something similar.
For cheep earbuds that are pretty good I like Koss Sparkplugs.
I fully admit there are better sounding earbuds/headphones out there, but these are adequate and cheap enough where I wont hate myself if i lose them.
2) why are your earbuds so far in your ear canal that they are giving you pain (if they are)
honestly these are the main concerns
Where you should be careful is if you listen in transit, on the bus/subway or something like that. When there's loud white noise you're more likely to turn up your earphones to drown it out and not notice that you've got your stuff going pretty loud - it doesn't seem as loud because of the white noise, but it's still loud and prolonged use can be damaging.
Some people's ears just physical don't hold the iphone type earbuds in place very well. Mine don't at all, they fall out constantly unless I actually cram the things into my ear canals.
Cheap option is the silicone in-the-ear-canal type headphones like these.
My only concern is just the physical presence of the ear bud in my ear. Granted I don't have to wedge them in there or anything, I suppose my ear canals aren't of the type that seem to outright reject ear buds. I just notice that after awhile things are sort of warmer and moister than usual in my ear, obviously from having them capped up after a fashion by the ear buds.
Do the Sennheisers tend to block human vocal ranges as well? I obviously would prefer it if my supervisor didn't have to yell at me to get my attention or think I was ignoring her.
I think you can get ones that are noise canceling, but that can also be turned off so you can listen to music but still hear the world around you. Or ones that aren't noise canceling but just hear through. Open air, maybe they call them?
but they're listening to every word I say
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