There I was staring at my untidy apartment, thinking this is going to take me hours to clean! How on earth am I going to get through it? Of course, the same way I get through many tedious tasks, by jamming out to my fav tunes with my trusty headphones.
Two or so hours into this hurricane hit my apartment; I developed a pressing headache. I’ve had this before and usually take a little nap to get rid of it. But no little naps for me today. I have to get this place cleaned up.
This experience left me wondering, when else have I gotten random headaches, and why… Suddenly it dawned on me; it’s mostly when I have my headphones on…
I’m not liking this answer, but – YES!!!! I can’t tell you how bummed out I was. I live, eat, and sleep in my headphones!
Can Headphones Cause Headaches?
While a recent study found no clear link between the use of electronics and headaches, the study did find some evidence that your headphones could be the guilty party… especially when listening to music for extended periods of time.
There have also been studies linking listening to loud music through headphones or with earphones for a prolonged time to Tinnitus. This is a disorder that causes a painful ringing in your ears.
Not to worry, just follow some precautions, and you can continue jamming out to your favorite tunes whenever you’re in the mood to do so! Let’s have a look at why this is happening and what you can do to prevent it.
How Do Headphones Cause Headaches?
Basically, when you wear really tight headwear, it causes abnormal pressure, which in turn causes headaches. It makes sense, right?
The other thing that can cause a headache is listening to your tunes on full volume. While this is awesome, it can affect your hearing health in the long run. It can also lead to Tinnitus – which sucks, trust me.
Let’s look into the source of your headphone headache in more detail.
■ Headphones Can Cause External Compression Headaches
When wearing tight headphones, you place pressure on your temporal bone, which can cause a headache. Some people are more sensitive to this happening than others. This is what caused my own headaches.
If you suffer from migraines, you would also be more prone to compression headaches. These headaches are often referred to as “swim goggle headaches” and it affects roughly four percent of the world’s population.
The reason why this external compression causes headaches is because of the prolonged pressure applied to your temples and ears.
Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to prevent this from happening except for taking some precautions. But these headaches can easily feel like a normal headache, so it is difficult to diagnose and prevent.
Some headphone designs can also create more pressure than others. So, you will not always experience this issue when wearing headphones, which might throw you off of the cause.
I also discovered that the position of how I place the headphones sometimes can cause my headaches to be worse. So, by slightly adjusting it, I feel relief. This differs from person to person, as we all have different shaped heads.
There have been cases when headaches have occurred while a person is not even wearing headphones; this is known as phantom headaches. But it only happens in more extreme cases.
■ Listening to Loud Music Can Cause Headaches
You either love the loud music pulsing through your body, or you’re putting on your headphones to drown out the noise of your surroundings. And in many of these cases, you can still hear the outside noise, so you turn up the volume even more.
Here is why loud music can damage your hearing and be causing headaches:
Sound travels through your ear canal to the eardrum. Inside the eardrum, it reaches the cochlea, a fluid-filled chamber.
On the cochlea, you’ll find numerous tiny hairs called auditory hairs. They’re responsible for transmitting the sound to the auditory nerve and ultimately to your brain.
When sound then enters the cochlea, the fluid inside starts to vibrate and moves these hair cells, which in turn tells the auditory nerve to send a signal to your brain that it’s receiving sound.
The louder the music, the more the fluid inside the cochlea vibrates, and the more the auditory hairs move.
If the hairs move too rapidly or at an abnormal pace, they get damaged and become less responsive.
This can be the cause of your headaches and lead to serious or even permanent hearing loss. And currently, there is no medication to treat a damaged Cochlea.
If you want more info on this topic, one of my recent articles explains why blasting music in your ears can even make you deaf.
■ Headphones Can Cause Tinnitus
Ever had the experience after a night out in a loud club of a buzzing noise in your ears? Even though you are now in a quiet room, you still hear it. And this sometimes leaves you with a raging headache.
Tinnitus is very similar. It occurs when there is no external source, yet there is a ringing in the ear. This is a well-known characteristic of this disorder.
It is very common in individuals who have been exposed to loud noises. However, not considered a condition, it is a clear indication of an underlying condition.
Listening to really loud music through your headphones can, therefore, cause hearing loss, which can result in Tinnitus.
An audiologist, Lori Zetelli from the UPMC Centre for Audiology and Hearing Aids in Pittsburgh had the following to say: “How you listen, whether through earphones or some other means, doesn’t cause hearing loss. It is how loudly you listen, that causes damage over time”.
A few other symptoms of Tinnitus are hearing a humming, clicking, or roaring sound in your ears. You may hear these noises in one or both ears, and the pitch of the noise will also vary.
These sounds can really affect your day to day life as it can come and go but also be present constantly. This can lead to a loss of concentration.
There’s also an alarming amount of people who seem to connect Tinnitus with noise-canceling. I’m not so convinced, read my article on it if you want more info.
How to avoid headphone headaches
Let’s have a look at how to prevent headphone headaches from happening:
▪️ Design
The wrong headphone design can cause pressure. Consider getting a more comfortable set of headphones.
▪️ Volume
Don’t turn up the volume all the way, and don’t go listening for hours on end. Keep it safe!
▪️ Adjustment
Adjusting your headphones ever so often can make a world of difference. Moving your headphones will relieve pressure and get the blood flowing again. Trust me, this works.
■ If Your Headphones Are Giving You Headaches
When, like in my case, your headaches are caused by the pressure your headphones are applying to your head, then the answer is simple. Just reduce the amount of time that you spend with them on.
If, for some reason, you are keeping them on, but you are not listening to anything, then you need to break that habit.
In contrast, if you’re someone that just loves having music in your ears the whole day, then ask yourself, are you willing to sit with these headaches in order to be able to do this? Who can enjoy music with a splitting headache?!
There are still other means of listening to music that will not have this effect. Instead of having your headphones on when you are home alone, rather put the radio on or enjoy some quiet time. You will soon feel your headaches disappearing, and it’ll be well worth the compromise.
You might also be experiencing sore ears when having your headphones on for too long. And again, reducing your headphone-time will significantly prevent any damage to your hearing and also to your ears, enabling you to use your headphones for many years to come.
I did an in-depth article on how long you should be wearing your headphones. Be sure to look into it.
■ Get a Pair of Comfortable Over-Ear Headphones
On-ear headphones add pressure directly onto your ears; this is made worse if you wear glasses.
The on-ear headphones pads sandwich your ear and the arm of your glasses – huge problem. This causes pressure points, and before you know it, you’ve got yourself a headache.
The best option for our bespectacled community (and everyone else who wants unparalleled comfort) is over-ear headphones. These fit comfortably over your ear, creating no pressure points and trust me; they are a dream.
Even so, while some headphones can give you headaches when they’re too tight, or when you’re blasting away the sound – they’re still a lot safer to use than earphones.
I say this because with earphones you’re literally blasting that music straight into your eardrums (with nowhere for it to escape), and there’s always the research being done on wireless earphones which could have a wide variety of health concerns attached to them (and that’s why I don’t want them stuck inside my ears), and they can be equally uncomfortable.
For me, I don’t want to compromise on sound or health; I’d rather just find the perfect headphones, give myself some breaks and maybe tone it down a bit (just a bit).
■ Adjust Your Headphones
Like I have mentioned before, the solution to your headaches can be as simple as just adjusting your headset. Another brilliant feature that you should look for in your next set, is folding ear pads.
This is great because it allows you to fold up one side, to give it a rest, and use the other side to continue listening to your music, podcast, or whatever.
We all have different shaped heads. That is why brands made with adjustable straps are the best.
They come in different shapes and sizes so that you can find the one that suits you best and just make some minor changes to get the perfect fit.
So, find one to your liking and make the adjustments until it feels comfortable for your use.
When making these adjustments take a second to make sure that they are not too tight. The tightness will create pressure, which will result in a headache.
These adjustments are going to be a trial and error exercise before you get them to fit just right. So just keep playing around, until you find them to suit you just the way you like them to and without causing you any discomfort.
If you find that you are still getting headaches even though they fit just fine, try to make them bigger and see if that makes a difference.
You will soon be able to find your happy place headache-free!
■ Get Used to Listening at a Lower Volume
We have all been in a very noisy environment like the office, a mall or on the train. And while the best way to escape from the noise is to put on your headphones, it isn’t always perfect.
Often the surrounding noise will still be heard, and therefore we all, at times, tend to turn up the volume to drown it out completely.
Headphones, however, are extremely close to your ears, and at this high volume, it gets very dangerous.
Listening to loud music can seriously impact your hearing. What happens is the spiral ganglia neurons located at the auditory nerve gets affected by the noise.
This is a form of deafness, which most elderly people suffer from, called Neuropathy. And damage to your ears can cause mild to major headaches!
When it comes to your hearing health, you are going to have to reduce the volume if you want to look after your hearing.
Even though you feel that it’s not loud enough, always try and keep the volume at below 60% as recommended by Audiologists.
Your headphones itself has its own volume. Try turning this down as well as the volume on your phone. You will soon get used to listening at this volume.
But rest assured, at least you’re playing it safe and looking after your hearing health. As well as eliminating headaches caused by the constant high volumes intruding on your poor ears.
Just think about it this way, it is better to listen to your music at a lower volume than suffering from a hearing disability and not be able to hear at all.
I recommend checking out this article to get caught up on how listening to loud music through your headphones can make you deaf.
■ Don’t Use Your Headphones for Extended Periods of Time
Using your headphones for hours on end can really impact your hearing health very negatively and be the reason for sitting with headaches.
Because yes, there is actually a limit to the amount of time you should be spending with your headphones on. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) it is one hour per day.
You might think this ridiculous – I mean, I even thought,”so how many songs is that actually…?” And this might seem way too little, especially since you just love listening to your music and cut out the world at times.
But, with people basically being attached to their cellphones and wearing their headphones most of the time, hearing loss in young adults have increased dramatically over the past few decades.
In the last 20 years, it increased by 30%, with 1 in every 5 teens suffering from some form of hearing loss. And experts are putting the blame on headphones.
It is clearly no longer only a problem that occurs as you get older. And it is your responsibility to yourself as well as your kids (if you have) to give those ears a break after every hour of listening.
So, make the wise choice and get into a healthy listening habit of spending less time with your headphones and at a lower volume.
If you are still not convinced, see this article on how long you should wear your headphones.
Wearing or using your headphones incorrectly can be a direct cause for the headaches you have been pestered with.
Be willing to look into all possibilities on how to correct this, not only to get rid of these headaches but also to look after your hearing health.
You don’t want to sit with irreversible damage, and maybe even sooner than you thought possible.