I recently read a statement in an article about Isolating earbuds for kids. It said :
“A word of caution: Occluding earbuds also reduce important warning sounds like car horns, so they’re not a good choice if your child listens to music outside.”
The Cleveland Clinic
That’s pretty scary if you ask me. In our last article, “Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones” we did general product reviews on some of the Bone Conduction Headphones we use and try at www.techevaluate.com.
I would like to discuss some of the positive attributes of Bone Conduction Headphones technology and why we feel it is a safer product for you in many ways.
As also described in our last article, bone conduction headphones use the conduction of sound to the inner ear through the bones of the skull and cheek. Bone conduction transmission can be used with individuals with normal or impaired hearing.
How Bone Conduction Works
Bone conduction works with the vibration of the skull that results in auditory sensations. This is a way to somewhat bypass the outer and middle ears to stimulate the ears cochlea. Bone-conduction works because all of the bones of the skull are connected, including the temporal bone, which in turn stimulates the ears cochlea.
Bone Conduction Headphones just by their basic nature and design free your ears from having something in them so this opens up your whole world and environment.
This is obviously opposed to earbuds or earphones in your ear canal or headphones that completely cover your ears. This is especially true if you are wearing them in any active setting like jogging or walking along the road or in a park. You can hear your surroundings and that by itself is a huge safety factor in so many ways. It is so much safer.
Bone Conduction Headphone Safety
If you are walking or working out in a park in a city where there is traffic or people around you, just think about it. You can hear with your ears while you are listening to music or a book or even talking on the phone because there is nothing in your ears. These headphones slide comfortably to the front of your ears and cheekbone and again not in your ear canal.
My goodness, if you have kids in the house and you are doing something and they are upstairs or down the hall playing, you can hear when it is necessary. The safety factor is immense with these types of headsets and technology.
Safety of the Ear Itself
The next obvious factor is the safety of your ear itself. As I also discussed in the last article Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones I have tinnitus that I got from loud noise which was from the overuse of my earphones and playing them too loud. This can happen very easily. I have been at the gym with the music playing on the overhead speakers and I have had to turn up my earbuds so I could hear over the gym’s music.
There were many early mornings when I walked into the gym and the music would be playing at 90 to 100 decibels. That is extremely loud by itself. Music that I definitely did not want to hear so I had to turn up my earphones louder. Listeners are always at risk of cochlear damage from the overuse or listening to loud to of any type of earphone. The cochlea is a tiny, structure in your ear. It is the main organ of hearing and is part of your inner ear
Keeping the Volume Down
Again if you turn headphones on at that same level or above the surrounding sound so you can hear what you want to hear; you risk the possibility of damaging your ears and hearing.
After you have left that environment you will immediately see how totally over loud they are. It is sometimes like turning on your television in the morning from the night before and you are like wow, why is that so loud? This is so damaging to your hearing and we as a society do not see that. We just go with the flow.
Who has been to the movies and walking by one and you can hear a regular or Surround Sound movie through an outside wall of a building. Think how loud that is if you are sitting in the movie.
So I am a big believer now of keeping the volume down or out of your ears directly if possible. We have whole generations of hearing damage from the advent of wired earphones. All the way to the present day Bluetooth and wireless technology which makes it so much more convenient and easy to listen from your cell phone from phone calls to music and everything in between.
Are Bone Conduction Headphones a Safer Alternative for you Children?
We believe Bone Conduction Headphones are a safer alternative for you and even your children. Do you want your children to listen to overly loud music? Well, I certainly don’t.
Bone Conduction Headphones will not stop hearing damage if you listen to them too loud.
To ensure your children don’t listen to something too loud in their headphones; one thing you can do is use the built-in volume limiting features in your child’s listening devices media settings.
These settings are provided in such devices such as Apple iPhone, iPad, or Samsung Galaxy products to limit the sound volume level of the music your children can listen to. You don’t want it over 85 decibels according to recommendations from audiologists.
You can also limit the amount of time your child listens to their audio devices using headphones. Limit how long they are exposed to music or movies with headphones by giving them a time limit of thirty minutes or one hour at a time. This will help limit their sound exposure and prevent damage to their hearing. Not always easy but it is a start.
“It’s a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing®”
The NIDCD also sponsors “It’s a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing®” website and information http://www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov/Pages/Default.aspx a national public education campaign to increase awareness among parents of preteens about the causes and prevention of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.
Armed with this information, parents, teachers, school nurses, and other adults can encourage children to adopt healthy hearing habits.
Unilateral Hearing Loss or a Conductive Hearing Loss
Bone conduction headphones are another way for someone with unilateral hearing loss or a conductive hearing loss to enjoy gaming or audio streaming.
Bone Conduction Headphones don’t work for all types of hearing loss but they do work with any type of in-the-ear hearing aids which is a wonderful attribute.
They just slide over your temples while leaving your hearing aids in place and are a fun way to enjoy what you are doing.
In Conclusion
Like all of us, I have children, a grandchild, tons of nieces and nephews, and friends with the same. No one told me not to listen to my earbuds too loud, and because I was naive, now I have Tinnitus.
I sure didn’t do the research before I used something necessarily when I was young like I do know. Nor did we have the Internet or the easy available access to the information that we do today.
The magic of technology is so fun and exciting. The kids today start with cell phones when they are little babies and can work one by four or five. Sound is integral to our lives, and your home theater system can hurt their hearing, let alone a pair of headphones or Earbuds.
Teach them when they are young to protect their hearing and watch around themselves when they are wearing headphones or earbuds. If you don’t, no one will. If you are looking for comfort, safety, and an enjoyable listening experience Bone Conduction Headphones are definitely one answer.
References:
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss#1
https://www.everydayhearing.com/hearing-technology/articles/bone-conduction-headphones/
“It’s a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing® is a registered trademark of HHS.”