Doctors: Headphones’ overuse causes hearing damage

KABUL (Pajhwok): Permanent and overuse of headphones is dangerous to hearing sense and can cause deafness, doctors said on Wednesday.

The doctors add vehicles’ horns, loud music, listening to loud speaking, loud machinery sounds and use of headphones create noise pollution in the environment and can cause deafness among people.

The use of headphones is a common for listening to music or calling among the people.

What damages can headphones cause to hearing sense?

Doctor Abdul Habib Shafaq, a doctor and a professor of Eye, Ear and Throat (ENT) department at Maiwand Medical Hospital, told Pajhwok Afghan News noise pollution could create health problems and could cause noise-induced hearing loss.

He added, vehicles’ horns, loud music, listening to loud speaking, loud machinery sounds and the overuse of headphones had the potential to cause hearing damage.

He said noise pollution had serious impacts on health and could cause degradation of hearing sense and result in permanent disability in some people.

“A normal person can hear from zero to 20 decibels of sound, but if a person is faced with sound waves higher than 75 decibels at work, on the road, and at home, she/he may suffer hearing loss or deafness in the future”, Shafaq said.

Pointing to headphones, Dr. Shafaq said headphones sentabout 105 decibels of sound waves to the ear and could eventually cause deafness.

He added: “If someone uses earphones about six hours daily with the wave of sound over 75 decibels, such use can cause deafness or problems in hearing”.

He advised people who use headphones on a daily basis to avoid this practice.

WHO research on destructive consequences of permanent use of headphones

A World Health Organization (WHO) research shows that over 50 percent of people of the world use headphones and the youth below 35 years of age do not know the dangers of headphones.

The research shows headphones that create sound waves rattle the eardrum. These vibrations (rattles) then delivered to the inside of the ear through cartilage and then reach cochlea. Such use of headphones sometimes cause temporary decrease of hearing or permanent hearing decrease.

According to the research, in additional to damaging impacts of headphones on the hearing sense, overuse of headphones can also cause inflammation, and pain of ear and headache or drowsiness.

The research advised users of headphones to decrease this action to the possible level and use good quality headphones.

The source said the sound wave of headphone must not exceed 60 decibels.

Users of headphones also talk about side effects

Aseela Salihi, z dental medicine student, told Pajhwok Afghan News: “While I was memorizing the Holy Quran, I would listen to the verses through headphones for a year, my ears began aching, then I visited a doctor who advised me to decrease the use of headphones because their prolonged use is harmful”.

Aseela added until the doctor washed her ears, the level of hearing of her ears was very low.

Baran, a resident of Karti Char area of Kabul city, said he was using headphones for nine hours a day because of his job: “Because of my work, I have to use headphones a lot every day, and the long-term use of headphones caused me headaches and earaches”.

Baran works in a private media office, In order to focus on his work and avoid the sounds of his colleagues, he uses headphones.

aw/ma

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