While many music lovers are aware that listening to iPods and MP3 players at high volumes can lead to hearing loss, not many of them, especially the teenagers do anything about it. In fact, when teens are pressured by friends or family to turn down the volume on their iPods, they do exactly what you’d expect them to do: they turn the volume up instead. Even teens who express concern about the risk of hearing loss listen to music at potentially dangerous levels, higher than kids who say they’re not worried about deafness. Studies have shown that teens not only tend to play music louder than adults, but they are often unaware of how loud they’re playing it. Listening to earbuds, or in-ear headphones, for 90 minutes a day at 80% volume is probably safe for long-term hearing but the softer the better. The risk of permanent hearing loss can increase with just five minutes of exposure a day to music at full volume. Over time, the noise can damage the delicate hair cells in the inner ear. People always assume that the manufacturer’s maximum default setting is safe, or that turning the volume down to anything but full-blast is harmless. Some devices do have maximum volume while others do not, therefore it is up to the user to regulate the volume. People are listening to music for longer periods of time because of today’s long-lasting batteries. These devices crank out music for 15 hours or more, and it’s no wonder that the risk of hearing loss is increasing. Most iPod and MP3 users don’t keep their devices at maximum volume but because most of us can, and are, spending more time listening to music through headphones, there is a real risk of hearing loss for anyone who plugs in. It is a matter of how high you listen and for how long.Listen for too high and too long, and you may have to replace those headphones with hearing aids in the not-too-distant future. Ends
