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Did you hear, the newest data says that earbud headphones cause hearing loss — ok, maybe your ears are already damaged and you didn’t hear. So, how do you enjoy your music without going stone cold deaf?

I personally suffer from some significant hearing loss that I can trace back starting with the attendence of a series of live rock concerts starting in the late 70s and spanning several decades — Aerosmith, AC/DC, Boston, Kansas, Kiss, Crosby Stills & Nash, Jimmy Buffet, The Police and many, many more… Leaving each and every concert with ringing ears, I most likely left a little of my hearing on the auditorium floor each and every time.

At this point, I’m pretty much in need of a hearing aid — just ask my wife and kids. 

Articles surrounding the earbud study announcement mention the clunky old cushioned headphones as one way of creating a listening environment where a lower decibel level is required to create the quality a listener wants. Those clunky cushioned units lack a major feature that mobility requires — unclunkiness. This is what made the earbud headphones so popular to begin with; because it isn’t the robust sound quality that is winning consumers over to their use.

High-quality cushioned headphones may be the tool of choice for radio DJs and alike, but the mobile user on a bus or the sunseeker on the beach just can’t make the bulk work for them int he field.

However, cushioned or bare, bud or plug, the standard headphones require potentially damaging levels of sound to pass through the ear canal and ear drum.

But, what about these new bone conduction headphones?

According to one manufacturer; The bone conduction technology sends vibrations through the skull straight into the brain for perfect, pure sound. With this technology you can listen to stereo sound without covering the ear. Without using amplifier, sufficient volume and sound quality is obtained with the new technology.

Essentially, since the bone conduction headphone bypasses the ear, could it be that these are the answer to a growing social problem?

So, as I sit here pondering my impending deafness at 43, I think I might give a set of bone conduction headphones a whirl — all I have NOT to lose is the rest of my hearing. 

Chris Leckness (3531 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.