Everyone wears them, usually for hours at a time.

大家都戴著耳機，常常一次就戴上好幾個小時。

And all our moms warn us, not to listen

媽媽一定都叮嚀過我們，不要戴著耳機

to our headphones too loudly.

聽太大聲的聲音。

But how bad is it really for us to listen all day?

但到底聽一整天的耳機會多糟糕？

How much do I really need to worry about my ears?

我到底要擔心自己的耳朵多少呢？

So of course, our moms are right, it turns out

的確，我們的媽媽是對的

loud music damages your hearing but you likely

音量大的音樂會傷害你的聽力

won't notice any tangible effects until it's too late.

但你幾乎不會注意到有多明顯的影響，直到一切為時已晚。

In fact, any persistent noise effects your ears.

事實上，任何連續的噪音都會影響你的耳朵。

- Can headphones cause hearing loss?

-　戴耳機會讓聽力喪失嗎？

Absolutely.

- 絕對會

- That's Dr. Samantha Anne, an ENT who specializes

- 一位耳鼻喉科的醫生，沙曼沙．安醫生特別在

in pediatric care so if you're blasting music

小兒科強調過份的聽音樂

or even podcasts all day long, you're going to

或是播放太久

be putting your ears at risk.

會讓耳朵步上危險

And you can't fix hearing loss.

而且再也無法恢復。

- Once you lose to hearing loss because of noise

一旦你的聽力是因為造因而受損

exposure, there's no going back.

那就永遠無法恢復了。

You don't repair it, there's no getting it back.

你也不用修復他，於事無補。

- I called Dr. John Oghalai, an ENT and chair at USC

- 我打給約翰．奧嘉萊，他是一名耳鼻喉科醫生以及

to learn more about how we're all ruining our hearing.

南加州大學的主席，藉以了解更多有關我們如何持續損害我們的聽力

- So you can damage the sensory hair cells in the inner ear

- 所以你會破壞內耳的感知絨毛細胞

or you can damage the nerves.

你也可能會破壞神經。

The nerve that carries the sound from

這神經會將聲音經由

the hair cell to the brain.

絨毛細胞傳輸到大腦。

You know if you listen to sounds that are too loud,

如果你聽了太大聲的聲音

then they die and as far as we know, they don't regenerate.

細胞會死亡，可想而知，他們也不會再生。

- You also probably won't even know you're damaging

- 你也幾乎沒辦法發現聽力正在受損

your hearing because it often happens slowly and subtly.

因為這些影響通常是非常緩慢細微的。

Doctors often suggest a hearing test to establish

醫生常常建議我們要做聽力檢測以達到

a baseline but I'm sure you haven't had a recent

一個底線，但我相信你從來沒有做過這個檢測

hearing test, I definitely haven't.

我也的確沒有做過。

The only real obvious sign of damage is once

唯一一個最能顯示聽力受損的徵兆就是

you have ringing in your ears, aka, tinnitus.

你的有些聲音在你耳裡響著，也有回音或耳鳴。

That's not good because that means your hearing

這並不是很好的現象因為這表示你的聽力

has been significantly damaged.

已經被明顯破壞。

Plus ringing is obviously super annoying.

外加那個響聲真的很惱人。

Alright, so we're killing our baby ear hairs

是的，所以我們正在殘骸我們柔嫩的內耳絨毛

and maybe damaging our nerve endings, fantastic.

或許我們的聽力神經也在受損到完蛋，太棒了。

But is all sound bad for us?

但所有聲音都對耳朵不好嗎？

That can't be possible, right?

絕對不可能，對吧？

- If you're listening to a really loud sound,

- 如果你聽的聲音很大聲，但時間不長，或者

the time you can listen to is less or if it's a medium

你的聲音算是適中

level sound, then you can listen to it much longer.

那你當然你聽這些聲音的時間可以長一些。

- He and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration

- 醫生跟職業安全與安全管理局

have some concrete decibel recommendations.

有給予具體的分貝數據建議。

If you listen to something at 85 decibels for example,

假設今天你聽的聲音在 85 分貝

you can safely do so for eight hours.

那在時間上可以達八個小時。

This is like hearing a garbage disposal, blender

像是垃圾處理機、果汁機

or dishwasher for eight hours, it's not so bad.

或是洗碗機，這些聲音聽八小時都沒什麼問題。

At 95 decibels, you only get four safe hours of listening.

在 95 分貝的話，你就只能聽四個小時才能在安全範圍。

That's slightly louder than

比在 25 英尺外的摩托車聲音

a motorcycle that's 25 feet away.

再稍微大聲一點。

Imagine that for four hours, it's brutal.

想像要聽這個聲音四個小時，根本是酷刑。

You want to almost never hear a chainsaw

你一定無法想像電鋸的聲音

which can top out at 120 decibels.

會高達 120 分貝。

Now I recognize that most of us

我猜我們大多數的人

don't think in decibel levels.

都不會留意聲音分貝。

I'm impressed if you do but if you're curious,

如果你會的話我很刮目相看，如果你好奇關於分貝標準的話

apps do exist to measure your decibel level outputs,

你可以輸入分貝到手機裝置裡來測量你的分貝標準

although, there are other ways to measure

雖然也有其他方法可以測量

your decibel outputs that are more abstract.

更抽象的分貝指數。

General guidelines keep it at a comfortable level.

一般標準能夠讓你維持在舒適的聽力程度

Should not be heard around you.

不該在周邊聽到的。

And then if you take it off and you're hearing

當你拿掉耳機，你會聽到

ringing or the sound is a little bit muffled,

響聲或是一點點悶悶的聲音

like when you come out of a huge concert, for example

像是你剛聽完一場演唱會

and you have that little bit of ringing and muffled

你的耳朵裡會有一點點響聲或悶聲一陣子

sound for awhile, that's actually damage to the hearing.

那就表示聽力受損了。

Of course our headphones can effect this problem too.

當然我們的耳機也會影響這個問題。

Noise isolation, which is when our headphones block

噪音隔離，是為了阻擋環境的噪音

out ambien sound because of the seal they create

而創造的密封阻擋

can help reduce the need for louder music.

如此能降低對更大聲的音樂需求。

Noise cancellation, which are electronically counteracts

消除噪音，可以以電子科技來幫助

outside noise can help to.

消除外面的噪音。

The two taken together might make a big difference.

兩項並用會有意想不到的改變。

When used properly, to lower the levels of decibels

適當使用，來降低你聽的音量分貝

that you're playing, noise canceling headphones

消除耳機的噪音

are not a bad thing, they could be helpful.

並不是壞事，也很有幫助。

Doctor Oghalai says regular old earbuds

奧嘉萊醫生說過去的舊式耳塞

might be the worst as does Dr. Anne.

或許是安醫生最糟的決定。

The type of earbuds that kind of sit in the bowl

這類型的耳塞好比我們坐在耳朵裡面

of your ear that you can still hear outside sounds

我們還是會聽到外面的聲音

are probably in my mind, some of

這絕對是

the worst ones you could have.

最糟糕的解決方法。

Both agree that noise cancellation can help,

雖然雙方都同意噪音消除是可行的

although, if you're using noise cancellation

但如果你因為以擁有隔音消除這項功能

as an excuse to tune everything out

做為藉口，調高所有音量

and then turn up your music, don't do that.

以及音樂，這是不對的，別這麼做。

That's really bad.

這非常不好。

Okay, so I wanted to see how loudly I listened to music.

好的，所以我要來看看我音樂都聽多大聲

So we went out into the world to see how loud

所以我們要走進世界裡

New York City truly is.

看看紐這個城市的真正噪音有多大。

We used a sound level meter to detect the outside

我們用音量測試器來檢測

volume level and then looked at how I adjusted

外界的聲音，接著看我如何用我的 iPhone

my volume on my iPhone in turn.

來調整音量大小。

We tested one over the ear pair, one noise canceling,

我們測試了一般耳機、抗噪音耳機

one noise isolating, Airpods, noise canceling

靜音耳機、藍牙耳機、抗噪音耳塞

earbuds and on ear headphones.

以及電訊型科耳罩式耳機。

The subway was super loud whenever trains were present

無論火車什麼時候來，地鐵都是非常吵的

and sometimes even reached up to 100 decibels

有時甚至會高達 100 分貝

but it wasn't too bad when there were

但如果沒有站內沒有火車的話

no trains in the station.

情況不是最糟的。

The outside city was about as loud as when there were

城市外面跟車站內沒有地鐵一樣吵雜

no subways in the stations but sometimes it did

有時候會比站內再吵雜一點

get a little bit louder, like when an ambulance drove by.

像是救護車經過的時候。

And the office was always more or less silent.

辦公室或多或少都比較安靜。

Obviously, this all effected how loudly

很明顯地，這就是影響我如何

I needed to turn up my music.

調整音樂音量大小的原因。

But all the headphones stuck to a clear pattern of use,

但無論我在哪裡

regardless of where I was.

我的耳機都會選擇清楚模式。

I had to turn my regular, over the ear headphones

我不得不把我的耳機音量調高到

up the highest as well as my Airpods.

跟藍牙耳機一樣大聲。

The noise isolating headphones and noise canceling

隔離噪音耳機與降低噪音的耳機

headphones really did a good job keeping external

確實可以幫我隔絕其他音量

sounds out which led me to keep the volume lower

讓我可以把音量調到

than I had to with other pairs.

比其他耳機的所需要調整的音量低。

But even with these noise canceling and noise isolating

但即使有這兩種耳機

headphones, the subway station volume was nearly

地鐵站的音量幾乎是

double that of the office.

辦公室的兩倍。

This all makes sense but as the doctors warned,

這一切都很合理，但就如醫生所說的：

we could easily over do it with volume,

我們很容易就讓聽的音量超過負荷

especially when the headphones are able to keep sounds out.

尤其是我們都認為耳機可以阻隔外界的噪音。

All we can do to take care of our ears is be mindful.

我們所能做的就是對保養耳朵要更留心。

Maybe give up on your vanity and wear earplugs at concerts

或許你可以拋下虛榮心，在演唱會的時候戴上耳塞

because you never, ever want to hear that ringing.

因為你絕對不會想要聽到那個嗡嗡聲。

If you're a parent, you can often set volume

如果是身為家長，你能時常

controls for your kids so they don't

為孩子們調整音量控制，如此他們

exceed a certain decibel level.

不會超過分貝的標準。

- It's okay to use the headphones but just

-戴耳機當然是可以的

be smart about it, be sensible.

但要有智慧地使用，得特別留意。

Dr. Oghalai thinks the future might actually

奧嘉萊醫生認為對於聽力受損

be bright when it comes to hearing loss.

在未來應該是有另一片光明的。

Better headphone technology could reduce

更好的耳機的科技設計可以降低

the amount of damage we do.

大量對耳朵的傷害。

It's actually gonna get better over our lifetimes

事實上這可以讓我們的人生變得更好

because I think headphones have gotten better.

因為我認為耳機設計已經變更好了。

If he has hope, so do I.

如果他有這份希望，我也有。

Hey, do you have anything you've been wondering about

嘿！你們有想聽任何有關

related to tech and myths maybe?

技術與神話的故事嗎？

Leave them in the comments below because

在下方留言因為

we're always looking for ideas.

我們正在尋找靈感。

Also, we just launched a new a verge science YouTube page

另外，我們也推出了新的邊界科學的 YouTube 頁面

that you should absolutely go check out so go do that.

你絕對要去看看，所以行動吧！