Think your teenager doesn’t hear you? It may be a degenerative hearing loss called tinnitus due to loud MP3’s…
You see them on ears everywhere. Grade schoolers. Teens. Soccer moms. Weekend warriors. Your mother knew when the stereo was too loud, but now, technology is creating a health threat that may go unnoticed until the damage is done.
Teens experiencing hearing loss
“I am seeing young people with hearing loss, long before I should” says Melissa Hamerlinck, Au.D., Audiologist with the ENT Professional Services, Davenport. “Unfortunately at young ages, it’s difficult for children to realize the extent of damage that noise exposure can have. They don’t always realize the consequences of hearing loss and how it can eventually affect their quality of life.”
Loud music can set the mood and get the blood pumping, but it can also cause tinnitus, a condition marked by ringing in the ears. It affects millions of Americans. Experts say the volume from your mp3 today will cause bits of damage in your ears over time. “Hearing loss is insidious because there is no pain associated with it and it occurs gradually over years, “ warns Melissa. “By the time you notice hearing loss, it is too late to do anything about it. Noise exposure is cumulative and depending on how long and how loud the exposure was, you would notice the effects over a period of time, even if the noise occurred when you were a child.”
Tinnitus becoming prevalent
“I am seeing more younger people with tinnitus than I did 10 years ago,” she adds. Melissa advises that when wearing earphones or ear buds, it is important to keep the level of sound at a reasonable level. What does that mean? “For example, music from an IPOD over several hours can be just as damaging as a single blast from a gun. The damage from noise exposure is cumulative over a lifetime,” she explains. “
So how do you know whether you have had too much sound exposure? “The biggest warning is usually ringing in your ears (tinnitus),” says Melissa. “Often the tinnitus goes away after a day or two, but eventually remains as more and more damage occurs.
“Tinnitus is a sign that the nerve endings in your inner ear have been damaged. By the time a person notices hearing loss, it is too late for anything to be corrected. Damage can be stopped, however, if a person protects their hearing when exposed to excessive noise.”
Melissa says that while the most common age she see for this problem are men and women in their 40’s (who are beginning to notice the effects of hearing loss) it’s the younger ages she worries about. “Unlike their parents, kids are not usually as sensitive to their hearing or their health. Parents usually come in because their teenager complains that they cannot hear well or they cannot understand their favorite TV show.”
5 Signs of Hearing Damage
1. Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
2. Auditory fatigue (your ears feel tired)
3. Sensitivity to loud noises after exposure
4. Muffled or a feeling of pressure in the ears
5. Speech is not clear, conversation is heard but not understood.
5 Tips for Safe MP3 Use
1. Limit MP3 exposure to no more than 30 minutes if you are cranking up the volume. (Longer MP3 use is OK if the volume is kept to a reasonable level.)
2. Listen to your ears—they will warn you of over-exposure.
3. The MP3 is too loud if you can hear the words to the songs that your kids listen to. Turn the volume down or limit their exposure to 30 minutes.
4. If someone has to raise their voice so you can hear them, the volume is too loud.
5. If you already have hearing loss, you are at greater risk for more noise induced hearing loss; be more conservative about your noise exposure.
