iPods and Deafness

Regardless of where she ends up going, there is always a person who has a portable music player snugly wearing ear phones. These devices are not unusual, says a senior at Chicago University who constantly uses her own iPod when studying or exercising. But they are completely unaware of damaged hearing when it comes to the youth their age. Even researchers fear the worst when it comes to the rapid growth of these portable music players and similar devices attached directly to the ears.

A heightened level of usage of these devices is seen in today's world as compared to the past, says the director of clinical education in audiology from an Indiana university. You could say that listening has become more of a full time activity. According to him, what he sees is young bodies but senior ears. Assisted by his colleagues, a random examination was done on students where a number of disturbing cases surfaced with regard to noise induced hearing loss. Usually, it means they've lost the ability to hear higher frequencies, evidenced at times by mild ear ringing or trouble following conversations in noisy situations.

Hearing specialists say they're also seeing more people in their 30s and 40s who suffer from more pronounced tinnitus, an internal ringing or even the sound of whooshing or buzzing in the ears. What is currently happening is considered to be the tip of the iceberg by the Houston director of a hearing center at a children's hospital as he works with people from this age group. He said he would not be surprised if they start to see even more of this.

Loud concerts and noisy clubs can easily be the reason for noise induced hearing loss in the same way as the use of firearms and power tools is. There is now a new purpose for headphones according to the doctors and this is not only for music alone but also to avoid the ambient sounds from the streets as well as public transport vehicles. A loss of hearing can be caused by everything.

With hearing loss you do not get any kind of prior notice. Before you know, it may take a lot of exposures as well as a number of years, as said by an otologist from Minnesota. You can say that the ears are damaged when the exposure to a noisy place results in some ringing. If you rest your ears, they might recover, at least partially doctors say. Without the hairs in your inner ear you cannot hear sounds well and these can be damaged with any kind of prolonged exposure.

An audiologist at a Northern Colorado university who heads a task force on children and hearing says that with long lasting rechargeable batteries, people who use portable music players also are listening longer, and not giving their ears a rest. Damaging the ears even further is how loud people choose to turn volume levels on. 25 percent of people who have portable stereos expose themselves to excessively high noise levels that can cause ear damage, as based on the survey published by the national acoustic laboratories in the summer. When a person goes over the safe levels for listening volumes, the research of Britain's royal national institute for deaf people shows that the probably age of this individual is between 18 and 24.

It is too much now is it? Based from the findings of researchers from a children's hospital in Boston, portable music players are safe to use when listened on at 60 percent of the volume and used for only an hour per day. Other ways to protect the ears is by simply avoiding much contact with loud speakers and of course wearing protective ear guards when at work or play.

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