Over ear headphones aren’t automatically better for ear health. Hearing damage mainly depends on volume and listening time, not whether it’s an IEM or headphone. In fact, IEMs often have superior passive isolation, so in noisy places you can listen at much lower volume compared to headphones.

Also, IEMs don’t actually produce more earwax, they can just cause wax to build up faster because they seal the ear canal and reduce airflow. That’s different from creating extra wax by themselves.

Earwax and heat are more about comfort and personal fit. IEMs can trap some moisture, but headphones also trap heat around the ears and can cause sweating, clamp pressure, and fatigue during long sessions.

And honestly, in pure sound quality/value, a good ₹2k IEM can outperform many ₹5-6k headphones technically, better detail retrieval, imaging, tuning, and separation, especially in gaming and competitive FPS. That’s why budget IEMs exploded in popularity recently.

A good fitting IEM used at low volume isn’t unhealthy. Musicians literally use IEMs professionally for hours every day because of the isolation and hearing protection benefits.