Last week, I unfortunately ran into my first tech related injury. After spending the three day weekend I had (thanks to the snowstorm on Monday) on the internet with my earbuds securely fastened in my ears, I developed a painful and swollen ear canal! At first, I thought nothing of it. Sometimes after wearing my earbuds for an extended period of time, my ears would get sore from them, but things usually healed up in a few hours. This time, however, my ear developed some sort of minor inflammation. I think the constant rubbing of my Apple earbuds on my ear canal caused a little sore that I inflamed further by itching and scratching at my ear in an attempt to sooth the pain. I didn’t feel like going to the doctor about this, mostly because I knew it wasn’t a real ear infection because I had no other symptoms of an ear infection (I know, way to play it safe, but things worked out well in the end). After a few days of leaving my ear alone and taking Advil Cold and Sinus, via my grandmother who insisted I take it, my pain and the sore had gone away, leaving me with a lesson learned about my earbuds.
In order to prevent this painful situation from happening again, I went out and bought myself a pair of actual headphones. I haven’t worn over the ear headphones in like years, but I thought if I hurt myself using the earbuds once, I obviously use them too much and should get a better method. So, I ended up getting these super cute and comfy Panasonic Old School Monitor Headphones. They are so retro, but I love them. I know I could have bought something a little less over the top and a little less expensive (these set me back $60) but I am thinking quality and style here. I am not a fan of over the ear headphones because they are obviously large and obnoxious looking, so I thought, I mine as well get ones that were obviously trying to make a statement. I love the white color and the off white leather strap, as well as the simple functionality of them. They are easy to adjust and like most headphones, plug and play! No annoying volume controls on the headphones themselves or on the wires, just one chord into the computer! Best part about them is they are also noise canceling. They aren’t marketed that way, but when I put them on, I can barely hear myself speaking, all I hear is my audio!