Could headphones be damaging our ears?

2026-03-10

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Walking down the street, most people you pass will be wearing headphones or ear buds. Chances are you are too!But is this trend of noise-cancelling harming your ears or the way your brain processes sound?Norman and Tegan sound out the evidence on headphone use and hearing damage, and what you can do to protect your ears.References: Know Your Noise - National Acoustic Laboratories Pumping loud music is putting more than 1 billion young people at risk of hearing loss - University of Melbourne A Partial ...

Walking down the street, most people you pass will be wearing headphones or ear buds. Chances are you are too!

But is this trend of noise-cancelling harming your ears or the way your brain processes sound?

Norman and Tegan sound out the evidence on headphone use and hearing damage, and what you can do to protect your ears.

References:

Know Your Noise - National Acoustic Laboratories
Pumping loud music is putting more than 1 billion young people at risk of hearing loss - University of Melbourne
A Partial History of Headphones - Smithsonian
Prevalence and global estimates of unsafe listening practices in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Hearing thresholds, tinnitus, and headphone listening habits in nine-year-old children
Do Noise-Cancelling Headphones Help or Hurt Hearing? - University of Colorado
Tips for safe listening using headphones and earbuds – Hearing Australia

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