Microprocessing
Why AirPods—and Earbuds Like Them—Are Especially Bad for Your Hearing
It’s all about the fit and the background noise
In Microprocessing, columnist Angela Lashbrook aims to improve your relationship with technology every week. Microprocessing goes deep on the little things that define your online life today, to give you a better tomorrow.
AirPods are everywhere — even though they’re pretty awful at what they do.
This style of earbud, which rests next to your ear canal but not quite inside it, offers practically zero noise isolation. In other words, AirPods, by far the most popular wireless earbuds, do a poor job overpowering noise like chattering colleagues or teens on the subway. The natural response is to turn the volume louder to compensate — which can quickly turn dangerous for your hearing.
“I’m seeing a lot of younger people in their twenties who are coming in with ringing in their ears,” says Sarah Mowry, an assistant professor of otolaryngology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “I think it’s probably related to this all-day earbud use. It’s noise trauma.”
Headphones, in and of themselves, are not a risk. You could listen all day at a low-to-middle volume without health worries. It’s…
