Damage to your ears can be caused by headphones the same way as other loud noises do. It can result in what is referred to as “noise-induced hearing loss”. The tiny hair cells in the inner ear which are the sensory receptors to hearing, get bent down too much or too severely when exposed to loud sounds from headphones over a period of time. If enough time is provided after listening to loud sounds these hair cells can recover, if not, it can result in permanent damage.
Dr. Smita Nagaonkar, Consultant and section Coordinator, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai says, “In some cases, headphones need not even be extremely loud to cause damage to one's ears. Even listening to earbuds or headphones at a moderate volume can cause problems in your hearing over time. This is because the damage to ears is just not limited to the loudness of a noise, but also by the length of exposure as well. To give a comparison, attending a concert for a long time in an open space for a long time can cause as much damage as a gunshot near the ear or explosion. Thus, the duration of the exposure matters just as much as the volume.”
