Like everything in life, most dangers is a matter of quantity.

Listening to music with headphones is a fantastic way to enjoy music, as long as you are reasonable, it is fine to listen to music loud enough to drown out other sounds for periods.

Back in 2022, I got double flat feet, double heel spurs and a bad knee at the same time, walking was agony at the end of the day, so when I had to walk home from the bus stop, I put on some quite loud Sabaton in my headphones, used that to gather strength to move, usually ending up crying hard as I dragged myself up the path to my apartment building.

I still hear ok, sure, I have a bit of bad hearing, but that was something I had found out a decade before.

You won’t go deaf just by listening to music in headphones, they are an important tool in several sectors, especially in music, every live performance artist is wearing in ear monitors these days, they are special headphones that allow the artist to not only hear the other performers and instruments, but also protect their hearing from the extremely loud speakers and crowds at a live event.

Then you have the people working post production, they all wear headphones all day, you have radio DJs, they also wear headphones all day, pilots, air traffic controllers, police, security guards, and similar professions also often wear head phones constantly.

What you are being told about headphones is just fearmongering, but built on a small kernel of truth, loud sounds can and will damage your ears, but that goes for all loud noise, not just headphones.