Sociocusis: The Bitter Fruit of Modernity’s Approach Towards the Use of Headphones.
INTRODUCTION: In this so called glittering modernistic world we are facing a lot of dilemmas of which this article directs attention towards a new sprouting curse the socioacusis it wrecks our one of five senses hearing upon copious etiologic factors the most overlooked cause is the use of earphones not just the use of headphones but the modernistic use which implies there use as to appear suave to give an impression of being busy having me time engaging in online mess covert chatting and a lot more what socioacusis is in order to understand socioacusis we have to have some knowledge of ear there are three parts of ear outer middle and inner socioacusis has effect on inner ear so inner ear has a structure called cochlea containing hair cells hair cells covert sound vibrations into electrical signals and these electrical signals through nerves goes to brain and sound is heard know we define socioacusisit refers to the hearing loss that is associated with societal and environmental factors such as prolonged use of headphones everyday noise in urban environments recreational noise etc. how socioacusis effects hearing in order to become modern to look cool to hear music and to play online games people use headphones for long time without having any breaks this prolong usage causes,
Excitotoxicity and free radical formation: Prolonged Exposure of loud sound causes the release of glutamate a neurotransmitter which starts a pathway
leading towards the hair cells’ damage. Because of prolonged noise exposure there is increase in metabolic activity causing the production of toxic
free radicals which adversely affects the inner ear.
Inflammatory process: the damaging noise stimulates and inflammatory response in the inner ear which further worsens the condition.
Damage to the neural pathway: Nerves are those structures which bring the signals towards and away from the brain. Prolonged noise exposure damages the
auditory nerve thus adding salt to wound. Impairing the hearing permanently.
Apoptosis: Because of chronic use of headphones the hair cells of the inner ear undergoes apoptosis which is a programmed cell death.
Determinants of damage sound intensity which is the measure of energy by the sound waves in simple words how loud a sound is and it is measured in decibels dB so sound of intensity 8085 dB have contributed towards socioscusis on noise spectrum the medium and high spectrums have worst effects means they causes negative impact on inner ear time is the most important factor contributing towards socioacusis people who wears headphones for long time without taking any rest or needed rest suffers a lot as a result stapedius and tenser tympani muscles are unable to adopt such pressure and loses there function leading towards socioacusis patients representation they came with the history of continuous use of headphones for long time hearing loud music etc. having the feeling of ear fullness which irritates a lot suffering with tinnitus a condition in which without any external sound source patient perceives bussing humming and ringing the intensities of which varies patient to patient also tells the history of headache audiogram we on observe a decrease in threshold of hearing after exposure to noise which after returns normal with it there is hearing threshold drops to 4khz frequency which returns to normal after rest other representations may be difficulty understanding speech and hearing fatigue etc. targeted people 80 percent of adults in youngest age group reported using headphones or earbuds connected to audio devices and a study by centers for disease control and prevention indicated that nearly 1 in 5 teenagers in us exhibits some degree of hearing loss because of use of headphones or earbuds connected to audio devices socioacusis may effects all of the age groups but people with young age are at higher risk as there most of the time is spent on using headphones although the young population is the cream of the nation but the abusive use of headphones and other such gadgets are not only taking away the creativity from them which means making them deaf socially and progressively but also taking away their precious sense of hearing prevention the best way to get rid of sociocusis is prevention few ways are by using the headphones when necessary with the breaks after every 60 minutes this break helps a lot by giving time to ear structures to get rest and time to restore normal functioning by not using headphones as a symbol of being modern and fashionable take them only a device make yourself busy in other activities so that the stimulus of using headphones without any need reduces by making timetable and dividing time for different activities or fixing a time for the use of headphones regular checkup also helps in prevention of socioacusis as physician warns about the worsening condition thus the reversal is easy and effective check and balance of volume of sound is also very important as high volume destroys the hair cells trying to keep volume to 5060 while using headphones.
Conclusion: Socioacusis shows the unexpected downsides of modernistic advancements although headphones are evolutionary products in modern era but weather they give us benefits or not depends upon there usage by balancing the use of headphones we can mitigate the bitter fruits of modernists approach towards the usage of headphones to achieve it we have to educate the people by running the advertisements awareness ads and newspaper publications he have to encourage the safe listening activities to protect over hearing capabilities and ensure the soundtrack of our lives remains vibrant for coming years.
Title Image by Luisella Planeta LOVE PEACE 💛💙 from Pixabay
My name is Hannan Sher, and I am a 4th-year MBBS student from Chiniot. Alongside my medical studies, I am deeply passionate about writing, both in Urdu and English. Writing, for me, is not just a creative outlet but a means to raise awareness about the often-overlooked aspects of our surroundings.
