India Bought Millions Of Earbuds. Are We Also Buying A Hearing Crisis?

Constant device use causes fatigue in the ears first. Tinnitus is also hard to live with. It's the sensation of hearing sound when there's no sound.

11 Sep 2026, 01:52 · NDTV

Show
Quick Read
Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed

Earbud use in India is rising, causing earlier hearing issues in younger people
Tinnitus and hearing loss are linked to prolonged earbud use and auditory nerve fatigue
Using earbuds to clean ears can worsen earwax and damage the eardrum or bones

Can early auditory nerve fatigue and mild tinnitus ever be cured?

India's earbud boom is hard to miss. Every second person on the metro, in a cab, or walking down the street has a pair of TWS earbuds tucked into their ears. Music, calls, gaming, OTT binges -- it's all on tap, all the time. But doctors are starting to ask a quieter question: what is this doing to our ears?

Dr P Harihara Murthy, Consultant ENT, Head & Neck & Endoscopic Surgeon at Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Bengaluru, told NDTV that the signs are already showing up in his clinic. And the patients are getting younger.

The Complaints Are Getting Younger

Tinnitus. Reduced hearing. A vague discomfort in the ear that won't go away. These used to be complaints doctors associated with older patients. Not anymore.

Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay

"Use of personal hearing devices among teenagers and Gen-Z is on the rise," says Dr Murthy. He points out that this habit, combined with late nights and screen time, puts stress on more than one organ. Hearing takes a direct hit. It's the only special sense that works round the clock, he explains, so it never really gets a break.

Constant device use causes fatigue in the ears first. That shows up as temporary hearing loss. Keep it up for years, and it turns into something else -- ringing in the ears, and eventually, permanent hearing loss.

Tinnitus itself is simple to describe but hard to live with. It's the sensation of hearing sound when there's no sound around you. Doctors are seeing more of it now. Dr Murthy links this directly to constant earbud and headphone use, which tires out the auditory nerves first and damages them permanently later.

There's one more habit he wants people to drop entirely: using earbuds or "buds" to clean the ears. It sounds harmless. It isn't. This can push wax deeper into the ear canal, pressing against the eardrum and triggering tinnitus. In worse cases, it injures the eardrum or the tiny bones behind it, making the whole problem bigger.

Loud Music, Long Calls, Endless Scrolling: The Real Damage Is Cumulative

It isn't one loud song or one long call that causes damage. It's the accumulation.

Long-term use of personal audio devices is, in Dr Murthy's words, "merely a recipe for hearing loss." The fix isn't complicated, though it does require discipline: limit how long you use these devices at a stretch. Give the ear nerves time to recover from fatigue.

Skip that recovery window for too long, and the fatigue stops being temporary. It becomes permanent. And permanent, here, means irreversible. There's no reset button once the damage sets in.

When Should You Actually Worry?

Most people wait until something feels seriously wrong before seeing a doctor. Dr Murthy has a simpler rule of thumb: if you're struggling to hear people clearly in a place you know well - your own home, a familiar room -- that's not a minor thing to shrug off.

That's a red flag. And it needs an ENT check and an audiology evaluation right away, not after a few more weeks of "let's see."

Nobody is saying give up earbuds. That ship has sailed for most of India. But the growing number of people plugged in all day is likely to push up demand for hearing tests and treatment among younger adults in the coming years -- and awareness needs to catch up just as fast.

A few habits go a long way, per Dr Murthy: get an annual hearing check once you're a regular earbud user. Keep the volume low. Use earbuds in short bursts, not for hours on end. And if you can avoid them altogether for parts of the day, that's still the safest option there is.

India didn't just buy millions of earbuds this year. It bought a habit. Whether that habit turns into a public health problem depends on what people do with the next few years of listening.

Got a follow‑up question on this article? Go on

How may i help you today

Show full article

Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world