08 Jul Listening to Music – Are we at risk?
With iPods and MP3 players increasing in popularity, are we at risk for noise-induced hearing loss? People are listening longer today because with today’s technology battery life is longer, the devices are able to hold entire music collections and they are getting smaller and smaller. These 3 factors together mean that we are listening longer than ever before. In addition, today more children and teens own an iPod or MP3 (within the last 5 years the percentage has increased from 18% to 76%).
This is still a fairly new area of research but the big question is what are the repercussions going to be down the road for today’s teens who listen for hours on end? Personal MP3 players or iPods do have the potential to cause hearing loss but with education this can be prevented.
Take home message: Keep in mind how loud, how long and how often you are listening to music and that noise-induced hearing loss is completely preventable!
Check out this free app to simulate how music sounds with aging and estimate how loud you are listening to music http://www.playitdown.org/