“Is it bad to sleep with headphones or earbuds on?”
Well, so many people, especially the young, keep trying to find an answer to this confusing question. For us, it should be a neutral answer. Sleeping with headphones or earbuds is helpful in some cases, but it can also betray you by your improper usage. Now, let’s go into details.
Benefits Of Using Earbuds Or Headphones When Sleeping
Some of you may not believe that using earbuds or headphones can bring benefits. Let’s see what those benefits are, then you may change your mind.
Outside Noise Reduction
There are many reasons why lots of people have a habit of wearing earbuds or headphones while sleeping. One of the most important purposes is to reduce the outside noise.
The discomfort may come from the noisy vehicles or talks on the street, or the unpleasant sounds of the construction. All of them can drive you insane while trying to sleep for sure. In this case, headphones or earbuds designed to block these annoying sounds will help you feel more comfortable.
Relaxation
In terms of relaxation, we must mention music. It is truly the thing that helps us to stabilize our mind best. Listening to music while sleeping may be many people’ liking. They consider music as an effective solution for them to fall into a deep sleep comfortably.
According to a study by Harvard University, people who have a habit of listening to music every day experience lower blood pressure and heart rate. Moreover, the whole body will get more relaxed and focus more on sleep instead of disturbing thoughts.
Treatment Of Insomnia And PTSD
Everyone knows that insomnia means sleeping difficulties.
How is PTSD? Do you wonder what it is?
PTSD is the post-traumatic stress disorder. This mental condition includes crisis, anxiety, and depression caused by a psychological shock in the past.
Studies have shown that among methods for PTSD or insomnia treatment, listening to music during sleep is also an effective option. It is not only good for the mind relaxation, and the sleep improvement as well.
Therefore, wearing headphones and enjoying music will be extremely helpful for people who have difficulty sleeping or not sleeping deeply, especially the elderly.
Serotonin Stimulation
Problems such as excessive anxiety or depression create a disorganized situation in the brain. The disorder hinders the ability to do daily tasks and reasoning ability. What’s more, it prevents you from performing everyday tasks effectively as a consequence. This issue happens when the Serotonin level in the brain decreases.
The Serotonin level influences fifty million brain cells. So, the lack of this hormone is hazardous.
Fortunately, listening to music can improve the situation. It helps to boost the Serotonin level, which has positive effects on mood-controlling brain cells. That is why people use music as a treatment for anxiety disorders.
So, Is It Bad To Sleep with Headphones or Earbuds On?
The answer is YES. There are always two sides to everything. What will happen if you sleep with headphones or earbuds on too often and improperly?
Ear Wax Buildup
To produce the clearest high-quality sound, the headphones must seal against the ear canal. Blocking your ears with headphones or earbuds like that will make it difficult for air to circulate.
It is the reason why the volume of air circulating in the ear gets clogged. As a result, the ears become susceptible to infection. At the same time, the ear wax accumulates in the long run and causes hearing impairment.
Otitis Externa
In the worst case, your ear canal skin wears away slowly and causes the pus inside. For days, it leads to the painful outer discomfort.
The ear canal plays an essential part. It is the connection between the the outer ear and the eardrum. And the condition we mentioned above is quite common for those who swim a lot. But it also occurs if you wear headphones frequently, too.
Therefore, it is a need to be careful when wearing headphones when sleeping. Besides, if your earphones do not have the right size for your ears, there will be the pressure on the ear canal skin. Then, it is likely to wear away and cause the necrosis.
Membrane Damage
The type of music you listen to also affects your ear health.
For instance, you love fast-paced music such as pop, rock or hip hop. They are the types of music that tend to lift your mood. For this reason, many people like to enjoy them at high volume, even when they wear headphones. This habit can affect the eardrum as well as damage the membrane.
Issues Of Emergency
With the innovative high tech nowadays, brands keep launching their super modern headphones. Many of these products come with the amazing noise-cancelling feature. It means that you will hear nothing from outside while wearing the headphones.
The high-tech seems to be great. But, what do you think about the emergency like the fire alarm, for example?
You might fail to hear the alarm and how risky the case will be?
How To Improve The Problem
You love to sleep with headphones or earbuds. You want to protect your ears from any health risk, too. So, how can you do them all at the same time?
Here will be the solutions.
Adjusting The Moderate Volume
The first thing to care about when wearing headphones is to adjust the volume moderately. Moreover, you should never sleep with headphones while the phone is charging. It potentially leads to electric shock for sure.
In addition, you should set a timer to turn off the music so that when you fall asleep, the sound will turn to the mute mode, saving your phone battery while reducing bad health effects.
Using Suitable Equipment
The next important thing is to choose suitable headphones or earbuds. We mean that you will not worry or feel uncomfortable wearing them whether you lie on the left or right.
In addition, you should consider using Bluetooth earbuds. They will not cause problems when changing sleeping positions.
Also, there is no one in the room who you may disturb, why don’t you try using the radio instead of headphones. If there is no radio, you can use the TV in music-only mode, too.
Choosing Music Which Helps Sleep Well
Everyone has their unique taste of music, especially in choosing songs to listen to when sleeping. Some people like to sleep with fast-paced music. Otherwise, others prefer slow melodies to relax.
We suggest you choose types of song which is suitable with your heart rate (between 60 and 80 BPM). You can search for songs within that range with the phone app.
Bottom Line
Sleeping with headphones or earbuds on is a habit helping people have a more restful sleep. It will be even better if we know how to use them without doing harm to the ears.
Do you use headphones or earbuds properly while sleeping? Share with us about your habits and we will discuss together.
