# Do headphones cause ear damage?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 23, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407 "2002-07-23T16:45:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2002, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/1 "2002-07-23T16:45:25Z")
My friend Arnold says so. Is this just a stupid urban legend? [www.snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com) had no information.
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### Author:  [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/2 "2002-07-23T17:08:36Z")
If you turn that volume up on your headphones you will certainly damage your hearing.
This is no urban legend.
Fact is that plenty of people wander around with thier minidisc players at high volume, they do suffer hearing damage.
This type of hearing loss can be very subtle, striking first at certain frequencies, so that you get a ‘hole’ in your hearing response chart.
This hole slowly widens over time, hearing damage is cumulative and currently irrepairable.
You might have noticed that some people seem to talk loud, but this may not be because they are aggressive, merely that their hearing is reduced.
You may well have turned on a hifi that someone else has been using and found that the equalisation settings are not to your taste, if the top end is turned up unpleasantly high by the previous user then this may too indicate that they have hearing damage in the upper reaches of their range.
Unfortunately that person may well not be aware there is any problem at all.
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### Author:  [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/3 "2002-07-23T17:27:44Z")
How about if I keep it reasonably low?
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### Author:  [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2002, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/4 "2002-07-23T18:32:05Z")
The danger is in prolonged exposure to any loud noise, whether it is headphones, planes taking off, power tools, rock concerts, etc.
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### Author:  [@Victory\_Candescence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Victory_Candescence)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2002, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/5 "2002-07-25T20:47:26Z")
This article ( [http://www.headwize.com/articles/hearing\_art.htm](http://www.headwize.com/articles/hearing_art.htm) ) seems to say that headphones are dangerous because high frequency sounds don’t get a chance to be weakened before they reach your ear.
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### Author:  [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/6 "2002-07-25T23:25:57Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Recursion \*
> \*\*Do headphones cause ear damage? \*\*
Wow, how tight are these headphones?
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### Author:  [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2002, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/7 "2002-07-26T00:16:40Z")
Can you repeat that?
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/8 "2002-07-27T01:21:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Joey G \*
> Wow, how tight are these headphones?
??? Loose or tight, if you turn up the volume enough it will damage your hearing. Since many people enjoy the non-aural vibratory feel of full size speakers, they crank up their headphones in order to “feel” the music. This is Not A Good Idea.
If you are listening on headphones and someone asks your to turn them down, you are definitely over the safety line. Over and then some. Adjust the volume to the _lowest_ level that allows you to hear the music clearly. Going higher is for the "Otto"s of the world.
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### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2002, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-headphones-cause-ear-damage/120407/9 "2002-07-27T03:56:44Z")
Oh wow. I always listen to my discman on about the highest setting. Usually I start low, and I get desensitized to that, so I end up going to the highest or almost highest mark. I’ve had someone who was using my headphones comment on that and then change them. :eek: This is scary.