Are AirPods the Next Best Place to Integrate a Health Wearable?
You walk around any airport or cafe, and you see it just about everywhere. AirPods.
It has become somewhat of a status symbol — a perfect marriage between technological advancement and elitism.
AirPods are a science fiction imagination come to life. It wasn’t so long ago when we witnessed Joaquin Phoenix, in the movie Her, effortlessly plug in a hearing device to play a favorite tune in the elevator. We all looked in envy as he enjoyed high-fidelity music in such a small form factor, absent of any tangling wires.
But AirPods have surpassed the imaginable with their transparency option—the ability to pass through the sounds around you while listening to music. It makes you wonder, can AirPods be considered a hearing aid as well?
AirPods have “live listen” mode.
“Live listen” mode is a feature that amplifies the sound the AirPods pick up through the microphones and boosts the audio around you through transparency mode.
Apple has mentioned that this is in no way meant to replace hearing aids, but it's pretty close. Damn close.
And The Wall Street Journal recently talked about how Apple may be doubling down on the feature, making AirPods a full-fledged health device. The Wall Street Journal adds the company is looking into body temperature readings and correctional posture detection as possible features to add to the hardware.
But the earphones come with some controversies in the audiologist community and may not serve as the best health gadget to add to a biohacker’s arsenal aside from our rings and watches.
Do AirPods give radiation?
The evidence that AirPods will give you cancer because of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from their Bluetooth antenna is paltry at best. A 2019 study shows just how much that myth holds no water.
The amount of radiation found in Bluetooth devices was about 10 to 400 times lower than the radiation found in cell phones. So don’t worry about getting cancer when inserting those AirPods deep in your ear canal, closer to your ever so precious brain.
However, you should worry about the less-talked-about danger of AirPods — hearing loss.
Hearing loss is becoming more prevalent.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a dramatic increase in hearing loss amongst adolescents aged 12–19, compared to previous years.
But are the youth of today exposed to more noises than any other generation?
The children of “Flower Power” had Woodstock. The 70s had disco. We can only attribute the change in noise exposure to the massive proliferation of listening devices — namely, headphones.
And ever since the birth of mp3s and the iPod in the early 2000s, headphones have become an everyday staple. The children of today are listening to audio devices more frequently than previous generations.
A Swedish study published in the journal Noise & Health investigated the portable music listening habits of teenagers. Increased listening frequency was associated with poorer hearing thresholds.
The study also found that teens who spent three or more hours using headphones were more likely to experience tinnitus, a condition where you experience ringing or buzzing noises in your ears.
That’s not good.
Tinnitus is a condition that most typically occurs amongst individuals 55 years and older.
Don’t just follow the 70dB noise level limit.
Smartphones now allow nearly everyone to have access to music and podcasts in their pocket. But audio technology continues to focus mainly on form factor and portability rather than the safety of excess noise exposure.
You might have heard 70dB as the magic number. Although noise level is a significant factor in noise-induced hearing loss, length of time matters just as much.
Below is a chart provided by the CDC to help guide you on safe exposure to noises:
Length of time and noise level are the two metrics to follow when considering safe headphone use. However, for some decibels, the duration is a non-factor when the volume reaches unsafe levels.
For example, even if you’re only at a concert for two minutes, you’ve already done some damage to your ears.
Put some distance between you and the source of the sound.
Sometimes, the decibels a sound is projecting will not always match the decibels your ears receive. It all depends on the proximity of your ears to the sound source. For example, concert speakers at a decibel level of 113dB may not reach your ears at 113dB if you are standing 100 feet away from the speakers.
This might seem obvious but less so when looking at different kinds of headphones. Over-the-ear headphones are the safest option because they put some distance between the sound source and the inner ear.
Over-the-ear headphones vs. earphones.
Airpods are not preferable from a healthy hearing standpoint because they sit directly within the inner ear, sitting closer to the eardrum than over-the-ear headphones.
Airpods also do a terrible job at blocking out outside sounds. This is dangerous because headphone users are more likely to raise volumes in a noisy atmosphere to drown out the noise.
Given that Airpods and other headphones can reach decibel levels of over 113dB at max volume, noise cancellation is essential when considering ear health.
Airpod Pros offer a slightly better appeal due to their in-ear design. The rubber plugs providing a better seal to block outside sounds. However, they still sit close to the inner ear and don’t block out background noise nearly as well as headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC).
Earwax is really important.
There’s an old saying that goes, “Don’t put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.”
The biggest health myth going around right now is that you need to clean out your earwax. Despite the popularity of Q-tips, guidelines from the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery Foundation recommend avoiding the use of cotton-tipped swabs to remove earwax.
Why? Because it’s wildly unnecessary. The ear is a self-cleaning mechanism.
The Harvard Health Blog notes earwax is naturally anti-bacterial and traps dirt, dust, and dead skin cells from reaching the inner canal. It even acts as a natural bug repellant, keeping any of them from trying to crawl inside!
Over time, earwax naturally migrates towards the outside. Inserting a Q-tip can push the earwax further down the ear canal, leading to infections and possible damage.
Airpods are no exception. Their obtrusive blockage of the ear canal can cause ear wax to harden, preventing them from naturally sloughing out of your ears.
Adopt Safe Listening Habits.
Toss the Airpods and get some noise-canceling over-the-ear headphones. The harm outweighs the convenience factor. If you must stick to the Apple brand, try the overly luxurious AirPod Pro Max or the more reasonable Beats line of headphones. Let’s not forget that they are much better in sound quality and provide a few more style points than a dull pair of AirPods.
Also, remember to follow these listening tips:
1. Adopt the 60/60 rule.
Listen to music at 60% of your device’s maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes at a time. Take breaks in between.
2. Turn on Active Noise Cancellation.
If you’re on an airplane or waiting for a train, the background noise can already reach past 100dB. Headphones with ANC can be better for your ears instead of subjugating them to the city sounds around you. Just make sure to put them at a safe volume.
3. Keep your headphones off when walking near streets or cars.
People can’t drive. They are distracted more than ever by texting, Twitter, videos, etc. Keep your headphones off your ears when you are walking in a bustling town or city so that you are fully aware of your surroundings.
Remember that hearing damage is permanent.
Hearing damage is irreversible. When loud noises enter your ear, they can damage tiny hair cells responsible for sending signals to the brain on what we know and understand to be sound. These hair cells cannot be fixed or replaced, leading to permanent hearing loss.
Music and podcasts are great ways to enrich life and add a little bit of vibrancy to monotonous routines. But your ears are sensitive organs, and you only get one pair in life. Make sure to take care of them so you can enjoy music throughout your later years.
AirPods show promise, but have a long way to go to be considered a safe biohacking gadget.
AirPods seem to be the next logical step for Apple to take its wearables to the next level. Arguably, it's the only innovative tech that Apple has revolutionized in the post-Steve Jobs era. And the alignment towards better health tracking technology is a natural progression for Apple’s brand, ever since their partnership with Nike+ Run.
Also, Apple Watch has become a mainstay in moderate health tracking in recent years, unofficially considered a “starter pack” of sorts for those just entering the health wearables world.
But can you really call AirPods a health wearable if wearing it may be unhealthy?
Safe volume listening puts the onus on the user, but why can’t some of that accountability be pointed toward manufacturers, especially when they are marketed as vital health technologies?
Yes, AirPods have the potential to be this amalgamation of hearing aid technology and leisure listening. But when AirPods may be both the cause and solution of hearing loss, it begs the question of whether purchasing one is making you fall victim to a capitalist trap that takes advantage of human health rather than advances it.
