Mid-Week Mini: The Surprising Germ Explosion in Your Ears
In this week’s Mid-Week Mini Episode, we talk about how wearing headphones for just one hour can increase the bacteria in your ears by 700%.
So this one sounds like a scare headline your aunt would post on Facebook right next to an image of AirPods melting someone’s brain. But there’s some truth behind it. The idea comes from a 2002 study by Dr. D. K. Pruthi and colleagues at Manipal University in India. They tested ear bacterial growth on students who used in-ear headphones versus those who didn’t. After just one hour of use, the number of bacteria in the ear canal skyrocketed — up to 700 times the baseline.
Why? Simple: your ears are warm, dark, and a little bit moist. Bacteria love that. Add in the fact that your headphones block airflow, and suddenly you’ve created the microbial equivalent of a Las Vegas pool party. The bacteria on your skin, in your earwax, and from whatever’s already living on your earbuds all get trapped and start multiplying like crazy.
And if you share headphones? Congratulations, you’re not just swapping playlists — you’re swapping ear bacteria. The Manipal study even found that people who shared earbuds tended to have the same types of bacteria in both ears. Which is cute, in a disgusting sort of way.
Now, this doesn’t mean you should throw out your headphones and start blasting your favorite podcast from a boombox like it’s 1989. The good news is, most of that bacteria is harmless — it’s stuff your body already knows how to deal with. But if you start noticing itchy, red, or irritated ears, it could be a sign of an ear infection called otitis externa (or “swimmer’s ear”), which can be caused by moisture and bacteria buildup.
So what can you do? Clean your earbuds regularly — rubbing alcohol on a soft cloth works great — and give your ears a little break now and then. Don’t share earbuds unless you really, really trust the other person’s ear hygiene. And if you use over-ear headphones, those can collect sweat and bacteria too, so wipe them down once in a while.
Think of it like washing your hands — just… for your ears.
The internet says it’s true.
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