Aug 18, 2019 21:00:00

What happens if you keep AirPods in your ears?

by

Maurizio Pesce

Apple's AirPods with microphone can be paired with devices such as iPhone and iPad via Bluetooth to enjoy music and calls wirelessly. AsapSCIENCE, a YouTube channel that publishes scientific movies, explains what happens if you keep such AirPods in your ear.

What if you never took off your AirPods?-YouTube


Sound is transmitted when air vibrates. The ear can be said to be a device that converts vibrations of air into sound.

Specifically, the vibration of air vibrates the eardrum behind the ear canal, and the vibration is transmitted to the inner ear through the ossicles. A signal is sent from the inner ear to the brain, and we can recognize the vibration of the air as a sound.

AsapSCIENCE says that the “inner ear” should be noted in the outer ear → middle ear → inner ear → brain stem → brain route.

The negative effect of leaving AirPods on is

headphone deafness . One study showed that listening to music with headphones for about 7 hours a week significantly reduced hearing.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the United States, the sound that we can withstand is 85 decibels (A) for 8 hours a day.

However, some research has shown that 17% to 25% of people who wear headphones or earphones wear more than 10 hours a day. In another study, 46% heard over 85 decibels from earphones.

AirPods can produce a maximum volume of 101 dB to 139 dB, so the volume must be kept below 75% for long periods of wearing. Still, wearing it for a long time and listening to music will wear out

hair cells in the inner ear. Hair cells have the function of converting the vibration of sound into a signal by sensory hair, and this is worn out, so that hearing is attenuated.

Keeping AirPods on for a week also increases the risk of getting sick. By leaving AirPods on, dirt and moisture from the external auditory canal is clogged inside, increasing the risk of germ growth.

AirPods also block airflow into and out of your ears, increasing temperature and humidity. Therefore, it becomes an environment where germs are more likely to propagate.

AsapSCIENCE predicts that the

granuloma can form within 2 weeks with AirPods on, and the worst tympanic membrane may rupture.

At the end of the movie, AsapSCIENCE always adjusted the volume to an appropriate level when using AirPods and recommended that the AirPods be removed when sleeping.