Music To Your Bones

So. What are “Bone Conduction Headphones”? To understand how they work, we should first understand how we hear sounds.

How Does It Work

Sounds are basically vibrations around us. We “collect” these vibrations through our outer ear which is directed through the tunnel we call the ear canal. They then vibrate the ossicles and stimulate the hair cells inside our cochlea.

What bone conduction headphones do, is bypass the outer ear and the ear canal, directing the music you want to hear straight to the cochlea by putting the vibrations from the music against your skull. Sounds great in theory, right? Good news: it WORKS; and it’s out in markets now. Here’s five reasons why you should get them.

1. Hearing Issues

If you have hearing issues where your ears don’t collect sounds as well as they should, then you should definitely consider getting a pair. As stated earlier, bone conduction headphones bypass the outer and middle ear. So all you need is a healthy cochlea; which is the inner part of your ear. It isn’t clear yet whether these work for those who are deaf. Some deaf users have claimed that they do work and some have said that they don’t.

2. Lesser Chance of Hearing Damage

Some people listen to music at dangerous levels. Are you one of them? If you do enjoy blasting music, the bone conduction headphones can cater to that but with an advantage over other regular ear/ headphones. You stand a LESSER chance of suffering from hearing damage caused by the high volumes. The setback is that the vibrations would get stronger and it feels as though something tapping the sides of your head. It does take some time to adjust to.

3. Environmental Awareness

Perhaps the most common one for people to consider owning a pair of these headphones. Whether it’s commuting or exercising, most people operate on auto-pilot when things become routine, which loses some of that much needed sharpness. With the bone conduction earphones, you can listen to your music or podcasts without losing alertness completely. Noise-cancellation is great for the immersion, but not when the last thing you see is the front of a car crashing into you – or worse, you don’t even see it coming.

4. Comfort

Comfort should be another factor to think about when making the choice to purchase or not. If you’re not a fan of stuffing something into your ears or having something covering them, then this type of headphones will sit right with you – right over your temples. You can then enjoy the things you listen to without too much discomfort. For those wearing glasses, it is pretty spectacles-friendly although it shares the same resting space over the ears.

5. Cool Technology

Hearing music through bone vibration. Let’s all be honest; it is pretty cool, is it not? If that doesn’t mean anything to you, then maybe this will: it’s ex-military technology. A Chinese company by the name of Aftershokz had first manufactured bone conduction headphones for the military, and when you think about it, it’s pretty damn smart. You can hear your comrades over communications while hearing out for enemies around you. Wouldn’t you look so much smarter during conversations now? Don’t forget to give us the credit!

Fancy Headphones?

With all these reasons to consider, what do you think? Would you get them? Let us know in the comments below if you think they’re worth it or simply just another gimmick.

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