[GanChan]

Is there any link between heavy headphone use and a higher risk of ear infection?

I suppose I'm mostly wondering about canalphones, but the question can be applied to other types as well.

 

[dinosauract]

I've seen this topic written about a few times. I definitely think it would be possible, especially with workout phones. The sweat will penetrate the pads and bacteria will breed. I even recall a study in which this was measured, I remember reading about it at audioasylum.com. You could probably find it with a search there. I think canal phones might acutally be safer since they can be more thoroughly cleaned.

 

[sTaTIx]

The thought first came to my attention that headphones may be bad for your ears when I heard a fact quoted on the Howard Stern Show about how bacteria in the ear increases by the tune of 50 times when wearing headphones. Scary shiite.

 

[Reticuli]

Not unless you're talking about an infection of the earcanal or eardrum, which is much less likely than an inner ear infection. The important thing to do is not to blow your nose too strongly and avoid decongestents when you have a cold. There's a reason your sinuses close up when there's a nearby infection: to protect the inner ear which is connected to them. Still, it's a good idea to clean earcanal phones with an alcohol wipe from time to time. They can get sort of gross.

 

[wallijonn]

i would rather think that there's a wax buildup around trapped matter (organic or inorganic) and this in turn causes a pressure buildup.

 

[dgs]

This is an interesting question. To add to what has been said about inner ear/outer ear/etc.:

There are three parts of the ear that are relevant to this discussion: the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear.

The outer ear: the types of infections that occur here are the ones that would seem the most likely from headphone use. Infections here are most commonly "swimmer's ear," an infection of the ear OUTSIDE the tympanic membrane (ear drum). The ear canal gets red and irritated as the result of cerumen and moisture getting trapped in the ear. This could happen with headphones, but I'd bet it's not very common unless you are using canalphones and not keeping your ears clean or have exceptionally small ear canals.

The middle ear: the infections here are called "Otitis Media" and occur typically in children. These infections occur BEHIND the tympanic membrane. Pus and serous fluid build up behind the eardrum causing pressure and pain. These are mostly viral, but some are bacterial. They can occur as an extension of a throat infection. Sometimes, if children have lots of these, they get tubes inserted in their ears to drain them. I would have a hard time believing that these are caused by headphones to any great degree.

The inner ear: these infections are described in numerous ways, but most commonly, they are called "vestibular infections." These are inside the ear, past the oval window, in the actual part of the ear where the aural signal is translated into nerve impulses. Also, the semicircular canals are there (which give you position sense, tell you whether you are accelerating when moving, and so on). Infections in that part of the ear make people dizzy.

here's a decent picture of the ear for reference.



http://sound.eti.pg.gda.pl/SRS/Image...coust/Fig1.jpg

 

[RickG]

Check out this thread:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...a&pagenumber=1

 

[headfonuswannabe]

yep - those in your ear model's gave me a serious ear infection one time, but I probably wore them more than any person should - 6 hours a day....
Never wore those kind of phones again ( don't want to go through that again)

 

[elrod-tom]

I can't speak for in-ear cans, but I do know this:

I wear my headphones 10+ hours a day right now. I'm VERY prone to ear infections (they put tubes in my ears when I was 30!!! You know...like they do sometimes with babies...), and I've had no increase in the incedence of ear infections whatsoever.

My advice, if concerned, is to bag anything "in the ear", and stick with good old conventional supra-aural (around the ear) cans.

 

[ThatGuy]

I have a pair of an old Koss TD/65 closed headphone.

When I'm going to wear it for a long time, I would put a towel between the headphones/headband and my ears/head. They don't look shiny greasy and smelly this way (yuck!).