They’re everywhere. IPods on
the bus or in the airport. Headphones on people walking down
the street. Cellular phones pressed against a driver’s ear
in the middle of busy traffic. Everywhere you look, people
are listening to more voices, music, and noise. But how does
all this listening affect hearing, particularly in the most
techno-savvy generation, today’s teenagers?
The fact is that if your teenagers don’t seem
to hear you when you tell them to do their homework, they
may actually be having trouble hearing what you are saying.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
5.2 million U.S. teenagers show signs of hearing loss.
Unfortunately, many teens don’t realize they are losing
their hearing until it’s too late to correct.
“It really doesn't take
much for your ears to be affected by noise,” says
Dr. Patti Huang, an
otolaryngologist at The Austin Diagnostic Clinic. “The
popularity of MP3 players and the tendency of teenagers to
prefer loud music can be an unhealthy combination.”
A sudden loud noise or
exposure to high noise levels over time can cause permanent
damage to the tiny hairs in the cochlea, an important part
of the inner ear that helps transmit sounds along the
auditory nerve. Once damaged, these tiny hairs cannot
transmit sounds as effectively as they did before.
Even 15 minutes of
exposure to loud noises can cause temporary hearing loss.
Your body responds to the loud sounds by producing a ringing
in your ears, a condition known as tinnitus. Usually the
ringing goes away after sound levels return to normal.
“Over time, too much
exposure to loud noise can lead to a condition known as
noise-induced hearing loss,” Huang continues. “Among teens,
one of the biggest noise culprits is personal music players.
Video games, music concerts and raves, television sets,
traffic, and some machines and appliances can also
contribute.”
The risk of hearing
impairment starts after prolonged exposure at 85 decibels
(dB), the unit for measuring the loudness of sounds. Things
as seemingly innocuous as a telephone dial tone can check in
at 85 dB or higher.
“Many of the kinds of
sounds teens like to hear, as you might imagine, can be
considerably louder,“ continues Huang, “particularly music
and video games.”
Rock concerts routinely
expose viewers to sound levels above 100 dB. Portable audio
players can be louder than 115 dB. Some car stereos are
capable of volume output as high as 140 to 150 dB.
But since you can’t easily
measure the decibel levels around you or your teenager, how
do you know when a sound is too loud? One way to judge is to
see if you can hear normal conversation over the sound of
the music, television or video game. When you talk to
someone normally, that level of conversation is typically at
60 decibels. So if you cannot hear normal conversation over
the music playing in your MP3 player or stereo, it’s
probably at a higher decibel level and is too loud.
“Unfortunately, the
earbuds preferred by today’s music listeners are even more
likely to cause hearing loss than the older muff-type
headphones,” Huang says. “Since earbuds are placed directly
into the ear, they can boost the sound signal by as much as
six to nine decibels.”
In addition to the more
intense sound signal, today’s music listening devices --
with their longer battery life and their capacity to hold
and conveniently play lots of music -- also encourage users
to listen for longer periods of time than did the older
portable devices.
The solution, according to
Huang, is the 60 percent/60 minute rule. Hearing specialists
recommend using the MP3 devices for no more than about an
hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume.
Another option is the use
of noise-canceling headphones. “Unlike earbuds,
noise-canceling headphones quiet background noise. Listeners
don’t feel the need to crank up the volume so high,” Huang
said.
Another possibility are
custom ear plugs, which many musicians use to avoid the
potential hearing damage caused by prolonged exposure to
loud live music.
“We can fit teens or
adults with custom ear plugs, “ explains Huang. “These
provide up to 27 dB of hearing protection. The use of
earplugs at a music concert, rave or dance can also help
protect your teen’s ears, if you can convince your teen to
wear them.”
But since teenagers
typically aren’t worried about how today’s behavior can have
long-term effects on their health, parents also need to keep
an eye—and an ear—on the volume level.
The Austin Diagnostic
Clinic (ADC) is a multi-specialty clinic with physicians
representing 24 medical specialties at more than 10 locations.
|
|
