Over the Head vs In Ear

Submitted by upendrawanmali t3_ycuypc in headphones

Medically speaking on a long term basis which of the 2 are better? On one hand covering your ears completely for long stretches deprives them of ventilation. On the other hand, the in ear ones constantly push against your ear canals.

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ReekyRumpFedRatsbane t1_itol5ig wrote

Medically speaking, I would guess that open backs with absolutely no seal are best as they don't touch your ear canals and allow some ventilation.

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sequential_doom t1_itonef0 wrote

Over ears. As long as you don't go over 80db.

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crazywizard73 t1_itojwx9 wrote

Medical or not, you will always hear Etymotics because you don’t use your eardrums for those, they connect straight to your brain.

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Cannonaire t1_itp324z wrote

I can't verify if this is true or not, but in band in high school our instructor told us that in-ear can cause problems because there is very little between the driver and your ear drum.

I'm just relaying what I heard during my education. I'm skeptical of it because I would think what matters most is the SPL at your eardrum, and IEMs often seal and attenuate outside noise, meaning you can enjoy at a lower volume than with open headphones. I can't say I know for certain; my hope is only that this gives you some good ideas for finding real scientific studies.

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strayafuckyeahkent t1_itwf1z3 wrote

Your assumption is correct, at least according to my audiologist. She says it doesn't matter as long as the volume isn't too high, of course iems can also cause infections if not properly cleaned etc.

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AntOk463 t1_itym348 wrote

People sleep with earplugs daily and those push against your ear canals aa well

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Toronto-Will t1_itowmqs wrote

Why would ventilation matter, “medically speaking”? Certainly it makes a difference for comfort, I personally much prefer open backs, but I don’t see how it’d matter for hearing damage (volume is everything for that). Maybe it increases the chance of an ear infection, but when has that ever been an issue for IEM users?

If we just focus on hearing damage, it makes sense to think if in terms of which style of headphones you can play the quietest. And advantage there goes to ones that are isolating, because you can listen quieter if you don’t need to drown out outside noise.

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upendrawanmali OP t1_itoyfxx wrote

Medically speaking ventilation matters because when you live in a hot country like India you tend to sweat a lot. The ventilation helps to keep the sweat at bay and prevent any infections due to excessive sweating.

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ShroomX_tv t1_itqiryz wrote

My ass cheeks sweat a lot when I'm doing pelvic thrusts

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Amogus2021 t1_iu39p1j wrote

You're gonna sweat a lot more with open backs vs iems in a hot place

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goozercrew t1_itpvzr7 wrote

I guess noise canceling can allow you to play music at a lower volume because your not competing with outside noise as much. From what I've read there's no difference between over ear and in ear as far as hearing loss.

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SeeminglyUselessData t1_itqn028 wrote

If you are going for utmost safety over ear is definitely better. I stopped wearing iem’s due to ear infections and I am EXTREMELY hygienic. Depending on the iem the constant ear canal pressure when you insert them is also bad in the long run

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