If Someone Ever Asks To Borrow Your Headphones, Here’s Why You MUST Say, “No!”

by Greg Campbell | April 4, 2016 2:40 pm

We have all shared an earphone with someone. “Hey, listen to this,” one might say to his friend while on a flight to Vegas. According to some very salient advice, however, this may be a bad idea as doing so might exchange bacteria that can make us more vulnerable to infections.[1]

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Ever been asked by someone if they can borrow your earphones? You might want to read this before you consider you answer.

It turns out the habit can actually be pretty gross because your ears are full of bacteria.

According to a study from BuzzFeed[3], our ears are full of wax, dead skin cells and bacteria.

The good news is that a lot of this is actually harmless with wax a byproduct of our ears getting rid of germs and dust.

But problems start because, as you might have realised, wax is sticky as meaning your earphones will pick up all sorts from the environment.

They will also trap bacteria and then, helpfully, prevent it from dying out.

Sharing your earphones will only make this worse by introducing new bacteria to your ears.

Putting them back in your ear will also trap moisture and heat making you more vulnerable to infections.

The answer, according to Kelly Reynolds, an associate professor of environmental health at the University of Arizona, is to regularly clean them.

This means sanitising them before and after sharing and disinfecting them once a week.

‘When you disinfect, make sure to clean any waxy residue off first, then wipe down the earbuds with a cotton ball dampened with disinfecting spray or rubbing alcohol,’ she added.

I admit it: this never really dawned on me. However, it does seem to make sense.

But then again, it seems that everything can be dangerous these days. As kids, we would fly-off the swingsets at the pinnacle of the upswing and somehow, we made it to adulthood.

So, maybe we should just throw caution to the wind once in a while.