Most people know that listening to loud music will make you go deaf, but we do it anyways. According to the Journal of Pediatrics, 12% of children between the ages of six and 19 lose their hearing from using earbuds on a high volume. The possibility of you losing your hearing from loud music through loud music is increasing especially in this iPod generation. Within this decade, about one in every five teenagers has some form of hearing loss.
Hearing loss is a popular condition among teenagers. A 2014 US survey of 500 teenagers ages 13 to 19 reported that 46% of them experienced ringing, roaring, buzzing or pain in the ears. The two most popular risky activities that led to those symptoms were listening to excessively loud music and using lawn or power tools with no hearing protection. About 88% of teenagers reported having hearing loss from listening to loud music.
Listening to loud music can easily lead to the development of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Tinnitus, or a condition where you experience a ringing or swishing from your ear or head, causes a severe level of hearing loss. To prevent these conditions, you can switch your ear buds to “noise-canceling” headphones which are not inserted into the ear like earbuds, and are further from the eardrum. You can reduce your volume to below 50% of the maximum volume, which can keep your ears safe. If you don’t want to switch to headphones, wear new ear buds that fit tighter and block out background noise so you can listen at a lower volume.
Image Source: Eugenio Marogniu
Also, follow the 60/60 rule; that is, you keep your volume below 60% and limit your listening to under 60 minutes per day. While in loud environments like concerts, sporting events, and operating power equipment, ear protection like high-decibel ear plugs should be worn. Immediately turn down the volume, wear ear protection, or see a hearing care professional if you are experiencing hearing loss. If you can hear your neighbor’s music over the headphones, or if they can hear yours, it is too loud.
Always pay attention to signs of hearing loss and visit a physician if you present any. For example, ringing, roaring, hissing, or buzzing in your ear is a symptom of gradual hearing loss. You may also start having difficulty understanding people speaking in nosy places, or with poor acoustics. If you experience a feeling that your ear is plugged, that may be a sign of gradual hearing loss.
You may know that older adults have a hard time hearing, but in this day and age of ear buds and MP3s, we may be losing our hearing in our youth. Tinnitus and NIHL are increasingly common in the 2010s. You can still listen to your favorite playlist, but taking preventative measures against hearing loss will only benefit you.
