Sustained use of loud music players threatens hearing
Your Ears Are Under Attack
I cannot believe how many warnings are being posted regarding the dangers of exposing one’s ears to loud noises and how little respect is being shown to these warnings!
I deal with people everyday who have hearing loss and tinnitus as a result of exposure to loud noises…
The article below appeared at KansasCity.com
Preparing to start his workout Tuesday afternoon, Bob Gatti showed off the earphones for his MP3 player.
The Kansas City man paid about $100 for professional-quality ear buds that effectively cancel out other sounds in the environment. That way he can keep the volume low but still hear his music clearly as he lifts weights at Scott Fitness in Westport.
Gatti attends dental school, so he pays attention to health issues, such as hearing loss. But he suspects others don’t care.
“I doubt most kids who buy them do,” Gatti said. “They just turn them up real loud.”
As use of portable MP3 music players soars, concerns are emerging that the gadgets may contribute to hearing damage. Some doctors say they are seeing younger and younger patients with signs of noise-induced hearing loss that wouldn’t typically emerge before middle age. And they are worried that the constant use of MP3 players, which blare music directly into the ears, may be partly to blame.
Kristen Dawson, an audiologist at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, said the increased use of personal music players over the past five years had made a difference in the age of patients she has seen.
“We definitely see more noise-induced hearing loss in patients than we did five years ago,” Dawson said. “We are seeing more patients in their late 30s and early 40s as opposed to patients in their 50s and 60s.”
Similar concerns were raised when the first generation of portable music players, including Sony Corp.’s Walkman cassette tape players, hit the market in the 1980s. But the latest portable stereos — including Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod, and other players by iRiver, Sony and SanDisk — can hold thousands of songs and have longer-lasting batteries than older players.
As a result, people are listening to the devices much longer. Because hearing damage is directly related to the duration of exposure — not just the volume — one concern is that the steady, long-term exposure to even moderately loud music could contribute to premature hearing loss.
“You could safely listen to music at 85 decibels for 12 hours or more, but if the music is at 100 decibels, the maximum listening time is two hours before a chance of permanent hearing loss occurs,” Dawson said.
The numbers, she said, are based on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s recommendations for workplace sound levels.
“Those numbers are set for industry, but sound is sound,” said Judith Widen, associate professor of hearing and speech and the University of Kansas Hospital.
Widen said popular MP3 players, when playing a genre such as rock music, can emit 104 to 123 decibels.
Knowing the decibel number that causes harm to hearing is helpful, Dawson said, but the problem with newer technologies is they don’t provide a decibel reading.
A good estimate, she said, is turning the volume dial one-fourth of the way up. That level is about 85 decibels.
“But with the volume dial all the way up, it can be up to 120 decibels, which is dangerous,” Dawson said.
The issue hasn’t been well-studied, and no one knows for certain how much hearing loss might be attributable to music players. But concern over the risk is helping drive an increasing market for headset styles that minimize noise exposure. Sony, Panasonic Corp., Etymotic Research Inc., Shure Inc. and Bose Corp. produce sets that aim to block out background noise, so you can hear the music better at lower volumes.
Research also is beginning to explore the risks associated with recreational listening and seeks to determine safe volume limits and exposure times.
The concerns are emerging as sales of MP3 players explode. Roughly 38 million MP3 players were shipped to U.S. retailers in 2005, according to forecasts by the research firm IDC, and an estimated 28 percent of the U.S. population owns players. Apple controls about 70 percent of the MP3 player market, according to the research firm NPD Group. At peak levels iPods can hit volumes close to 115 decibels, research has found — a level that falls somewhere between a chain saw and jackhammer — but all MP3 players pose an equal theoretical risk.
Keaton Settlemeyer, another exerciser at Scott Fitness, said, “I’ll sit next to people, and I’ll hear the music coming from their headphones.”
Amy Bechtel, a personal trainer, has been paying more attention to her iPod’s volume because she recently read an article warning about hearing loss. Her rule of thumb? She should be able to hear her own tunes, but it shouldn’t be so overwhelming that she can’t hear anything else around her.
Like Settlemeyer, she has encountered people who play their music so loudly that she can hear it from a few feet away.
“And I don’t want to be that person,” she said.
The concern is spurring a debate on whether ear buds — the type of headphones that are tucked inside the ear — are more dangerous than more traditional earmuff-style headphones. Ear buds are a standard feature on many MP3 players.
There is little research supporting the notion that ear buds are more dangerous, but some researchers are nevertheless concerned. With speakers inserted into the ear, “it takes much less sound to arrive at a sound level that could be potentially damaging,” said Jerry Punch, a professor of audiology and speech sciences at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Some leading headphone manufacturers dismiss the notion that certain styles are more dangerous.
“The thing that damages your hearing is prolonged exposure to excessive volume levels,” said Christopher Lyons, manager of product marketing and retail support at Shure, an earphone manufacturer. “It’s not related to the particular style of earphone.”
There are two ways that noise exposure leads to hearing damage. Brief exposures to extremely loud sounds, like gunfire, can cause permanent damage. But consistent exposure to even moderate-level loud sounds wears out the hair cells in the inner ear, which are responsible for acute hearing abilities. When these cells are damaged by noise exposure — like a loud concert — they typically recover after two days of rest. With repeated exposure to loud sounds, however, the hair cells’ ability to recover weakens. Eventually the hair cells die, leading to permanent hearing loss.
Recognizing music that is too loud may not be so easy, but there are a few symptoms of noise-induced hearing loss that emerge soon after damage has been done.
One of the first signs is tinnitus, or a ringing in the ears, Widen said. Another sign is whether the music is audible to people other than the one listening to it.
“If you can hear it from 3 feet away, and you can hear it clearly, then it is obviously too loud,” Dawson said.
