Are headphones destroying our hearing?

Are headphones destroying our hearing?
I’ve been wearing headphones constantly and recently started wondering if all that listening could be bad for me. This led me down a rabbit hole where I discovered the alarming statistic that over a billion young adults are at risk of permanent, avoidable hearing loss. Am I one of those billion? In an age where we give our ears less of a break than ever before, how can we ensure we’re not losing our hearing long term? What tools do we have to minimize that damage?
First, wearing headphones doesn’t automatically mean you’ll develop hearing loss. Dr. Amy Saro, a Doctor of Audiology, explained to me how fragile our hearing is. It’s all about the tiny hair cells in our ears. When these hair cells are healthy, they stand upright like a field of wheat. But when sound passes through, it can bend them like a tornado. If you’re lucky, they can rebuild themselves, but repeated or loud exposure can cause permanent damage. This damage is both due to the duration and the loudness of the sound, measured in decibels (dB), which work on a logarithmic scale. For example, increasing the volume from 85 dB to 88 dB actually doubles the loudness.
We’re often listening louder than we realize. For instance, music at 110 dB or more isn’t uncommon when trying to overpower external noises like a train or a noisy coffee shop. The US Department of Labor recommends no more than 8 hours of exposure to 85 dB for a safe working environment. You can limit your phone’s volume settings to help, but if that makes hearing difficult, lowering the surrounding noise might be a better option.

Noise-cancelling headphones can help here. Though I initially thought noise cancellation was just a marketing gimmick, I learned it’s actually a valuable defense in noisy environments. There are two types: passive, which physically blocks sound, and active, which uses microphones to counteract sound waves. Active noise cancellation works by generating an “anti-wave” to cancel out the incoming sound wave, effectively reducing noise.
However, noise cancellation is best at removing persistent low-frequency hums, like airplane or train engines, but less effective against higher frequency sounds, like birds chirping or sudden loud noises. When the world feels too loud emotionally, taking a moment to pause and possibly talk to someone can also help.
Back to the topic: creating silence in a noisy environment feels magical but raises questions. Does noise cancellation have a volume? If it’s working properly, it should not produce a sound. According to Luke Keller, a professor of physics and astronomy, the cancellation happens in the electronics, not in your head, meaning noise-cancelling headphones do protect your ear hair cells.
So, while any decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones can protect your ears, they aren’t a solution for everything. For concerts or operating loud machinery, there are better ways to protect your ears. We need to make a conscious effort to protect our hearing. Just like we use sunscreen to prevent sunburns, we need to be mindful of noise exposure, even though its damage is invisible.

The first headphones were invented in the 1880s as a communication tool, not for listening to music. Early models were large and heavy, weighing around 10 pounds.

Headphones come in many different sizes and styles, including on-ear, in-ear, bone conduction, and open-ear earbuds. On-ear headphones are often more comfortable and have better sound quality than in-ear headphones. Bone conduction headphones transmit sound vibrations through the user's skull, while open-ear earbuds don't cover or block the ears.

Headphones can help people focus by blocking out external noise, which can be useful for studying, working, or taking online classes.