Remember when they used to warn you to turn down the volume? They weren’t kidding and now that you have kids, it is fine to sound like your parents who warned you that loud music and television could come back to haunt you. In fact, doctors and audiologists are finding that hearing loss in today’s teens is worse than we have ever thought, mainly due to the excessive volume of music coming from the new technology and the use of earbuds. Having your children turn down the music means you care. If you can hear the music from their earbuds sitting next to them, chances are the music is entirely too loud. A recent article from northjersey.com explains the severity of the problem and what we can all do to reduce the odds of hearing loss from loud music in earbuds.
Hearing loss in teenagers from loud music can be temporary or even permanent. Temporary hearing loss can happen after you’ve been exposed to loud noise for any duration. If you have temporary hearing loss, you won’t be able to hear as well as you normally do for a while. When exposed to loud noise over a long period of time, like every day, permanent hearing loss can occur. This means the person’s hearing won’t ever be as good as it once was. Listening to loud music a lot can cause the same kind of damage, especially if headphones or ear buds are used.
As stated in the above article, listening to devices at 100 dB for as little as 30 minutes can start to cause hearing problems, according Dr. Jason Surow, an otolaryngologist with ENT and Allergy Associates in Oradell. Hearing loss from loud noises happens when tiny hair cells in the inner ear that act as receptors get overstimulated and permanently damaged. However, the damage more often “becomes permanent after extended exposure to loud noises such as factory work or constant iPod listening. There is no effective treatment for noise-induced hearing loss,” said Surow, though researchers are in the early phases of stem cell therapies to repair these cells.
Turning down the volume and protecting hearing from loud noises are our audiologists’ most common pieces of advice. Aside from loud music, we offer custom-fit ear molds which can snugly seal your ear canal blocking out loud music like that heard at rock concerts. For those who enjoy music via earbuds, volume is the biggest concern because it directly enters the ear canal. Our audiologists suggest turning down the volume now, or wearing hearing aids down the road. To read this article and learn more about how earbuds could damage your hearing, click here.
