Do not use earphones that are inserted directly into your ear canals because they can make the music sound better but they enhance the chances of hearing loss.

You should try taking 5-minute breaks every hour while listening to music in ear phones. This will help your ears recover from being bombarded by concentrated sound waves. If you can use speakers at a moderate level instead, then do so because they will disperse the sound waves and not cause as much direct damage to your ear drums.

One of the main side effects of listening to loud music is hearing loss according to Dr. Brian Fligor, the director of Diagnostic Audiology at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Many people across the globe but most especially in Africa listen to music at volumes exceeding 90 decibels, yet they can suffer temporary loss of hearing.

Sounds in this range can eventually cause permanent hearing loss, especially to teenagers who wear their earphones for long periods of time.

If you listen to music at a restrained volume, then you don’t have to worry. However, if you listen to music at the highest volume possible might want to consider the following warnings. If you listen to your music using earphones at 85 decibels, you can get permanent hearing loss if you listen up to eight hours a day. At 88 decibels, you can get the same result at just four hours of listening time. Now for the painful truth, you can lose your hearing in just 15 minutes if you listen at 100-105 decibels.

Since earphones are made for two ears, it is quite inevitable that people share them. The Manchester Evening News reports that regular use of earphones can enhance the growth of harmful bacteria, and sharing or borrowing earphones that may just cause the transfer someone else’s bacteria to your ears.

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