Headphones are secretly destroying your health

by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition

Photo credit: Lukas Hartmann

The Rolling Out website posted an article by reporter Miriam Musa describing how headphones are secretly destroying users’ health. Musa point out additional harm done by frequent headphone use in addition to the auditory damage I have written about with audiologist Jan Mayes.

These health problems include difficulty concentrating, social isolation, loss of spatial awareness, posture problems leading to chronic pain and sleep disruption. I hadn’t thought about these issues at all. My focus has been on prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.

Those who use headphones or earbuds have to turn up the volume to dangerously high output levels to overcome ambient noise so they can understand the lyrics or the words of podcasts or books, especially when using public transit. Additionally, teenagers and young adults listen to their devices for hours a day, every day of the week. Some even fall asleep listening to music.

I’m not sure of the research Musa relied upon to make her health claims, but what she writes passes my “smell test,” i.e., it makes sense. One thing is certain: Humans did not evolve with a constant high-volume personal sound track delivered directly to our ears for several hours a day.

I have often said that looking for a safe pair of headphones is like looking for a safe cigarette. You won’t find one. I was only thinking about hearing loss, but maybe there are other reasons my statement is true.