Many of us use earphones
throughout the day to drown out
noise in our commu
tes and at work.
But is it prematurely damaging our
hearing? Molly Crain investigates.
It starts gradually. The guitars in your
favourite song no longer seem to sound
loud enough, so you crank up the
volume. You struggle to hear dialogue
on the TV. Trying to work out what your
friends are saying in a crowded pub
becomes an ordeal.
Hearing loss is often not a dramatic
event, but something that gather
inexorably over time. Some experts
believe it’s some very modern behavior
– such as our increasing use of
earphones to listen to music and
movies – that may help prematurely
age our hearing. And it’s an issue that
may be affecting younger adults much
more than before.
Why should I be concerned about
my hearing?
“It’s amazing how many parts of your
life can have loud noise that you don’t
think about or realise until too late,”
says clinical audiologist Jill Gruenwald of
Vanderbilt University's Medical
Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “We’re
around a lot of recreational noise
anymore, personal listeners, concerts,
bars, movie theatres are loud. There’s
lots of noise out there that we can be
exposed to on a daily basis.”
Gruenwald, who gives hearing loss
awareness talks to Vanderbilt’s School
of Music, explains that overexposure to
loud noise for extended periods of time
can increase the risk for anyone, no
matter what age, to experience Noise
Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). But
there’s reason to suggest that people
may start to experience NIHL at an
earlier age either related to their job or
recreational activities, especially in the
musical hub of Nashville.
“Sometimes the noise exposure in your
younger years, it’s not until it starts
coupling with age that it starts
snowballing faster,” says Gruenwald.
“So it might be that, ‘I got just this
little bit of hearing loss and a little bit
of damage now,’ and it’s not until my
later years that it’s really going to
become a problem.”
What noises could put me at risk
during leisure activities ?
US workplace safety bodies the
National Institute for Occupational
Safety ( NIOSH) and Occupational Safety
and Health Association ( OSHA ) set the
standard sound exposure limit at 85
decibels, which is as loud as city traffic
heard from inside a car. Extended
exposure to anything above that can
certainly put people at a greater risk for
more hearing loss as time goes on.
NIHL can happen immediately but it’s
also very common for effects to not be
noticeable until later in life.
Headphones on music players can reach
sound levels as high as 120 decibels,
according to a study from the
University of Leicester, which is
extremely dangerous as noises that
exceed 110dB can “strip away myelin
sheath from the nerve cells, which
hinders the delivery of electrical signals
from the ears to the brain.” If you
damage your ear in this way, it’s
permanent and cannot be reversed.
If you’re overexposed to loud
noises when you’re younger,
it’s common to have more
severe hearing loss when
you’re older
“Power tools are about 90dB,” says Dr
Todd Ricketts, Professor and Director of
the Department of Hearing and Speech
Sciences Graduate Studies at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center. “A chainsaw,
jet ski, that’s around a 100dB. Or if
you’re talking about, you know, a very
loud club or a loud concert it could be
105dB. Very loud car stereo, you could
be maybe even up to 120dB, or a little
bit more. When you’re talking about
being a couple of feet away from a gun,
you’re at 140dB, which is at or above
threshold of pain.”
Many people experience “ temporary
threshold shifts ,” where hearing is
muffled for a few days after a loud
concert or clubbing, but then returns. A
chemical process your ear does to
protect itself, sound appears to lose
resolution as the tiny hairs within your
inner ear become fatigued. To recover,
go to a quiet place until your hearing
regains sensitivity and avoid causing
more temporary threshold shifts in the
future.
How can I tell if my hearing is
going?
If you’re overexposed to loud noises
when you’re younger, it’s common to
have more severe hearing loss when
you’re older, or have it come at an
earlier age. Ricketts calls this a “delayed
effect.”
A video posted by AsapScience on
YouTube in 2013 asks “How old are
your ears?” Trouble is, you may not
like the results. Your ears may be 20
years older than you are.
If you’re worried about the quality of
your hearing there are free hearing test
applications you can take yourself as a
preliminary step to seeing an
audiologist.
For iPhone
UHear is one of the most popular and
tests for hearing sensitivity, how well
you can hear speech in noise, as well as
offers you a questionnaire.
Mimi Test was released April of this
year, has a sleek interface, and prompts
you to use Apple headphones for best
results and to make the test more
uniform. At the end of a test, Mimi
calculates your hearing age.
Android
Hearing Test has the display of a pure-
tone audiometry test that is used by
audiologists to identify the threshold
levels of an individual. Test results can
be printed, and if you download the
paid Pro Version test results can be
emailed.
How can tech help?
For those who do experience mild
hearing loss, technological
advancements like Soundhawk allow
you to hone in on certain voices in
crowded spaces – like bars and
restaurants – using only two earpieces
and lapel microphones. Invented by
former ear surgeon, Rodney Perkins,
Soundhawk operates via Bluetooth and
sound levels can be adjusted by
downloading the Soundhawk app.
How can I stop hearing loss from
getting worse?
To reduce the statistical increase of
experiencing NIHL earlier in life, turn
your smartphone volume down to a
safer level. Go to your settings and
drop the volume limit to about 70%,
that way you won’t be tempted to
listen to your music an unsafe level.
If you’re going to a concert or music
festival, don’t be afraid to bring
earplugs – you never know when you
might be shuffled closer to an amp.
Buy over-the-ear noise-cancelling
headphones instead of ear buds. That might be the simplest way to ensure that the tunes you enjoy don’t begin to rob you of a lifetime’s pleasure.
throughout the day to drown out
noise in our commu
tes and at work.
But is it prematurely damaging our
hearing? Molly Crain investigates.
It starts gradually. The guitars in your
favourite song no longer seem to sound
loud enough, so you crank up the
volume. You struggle to hear dialogue
on the TV. Trying to work out what your
friends are saying in a crowded pub
becomes an ordeal.
Hearing loss is often not a dramatic
event, but something that gather
inexorably over time. Some experts
believe it’s some very modern behavior
– such as our increasing use of
earphones to listen to music and
movies – that may help prematurely
age our hearing. And it’s an issue that
may be affecting younger adults much
more than before.
Why should I be concerned about
my hearing?
“It’s amazing how many parts of your
life can have loud noise that you don’t
think about or realise until too late,”
says clinical audiologist Jill Gruenwald of
Vanderbilt University's Medical
Center in Nashville, Tennessee. “We’re
around a lot of recreational noise
anymore, personal listeners, concerts,
bars, movie theatres are loud. There’s
lots of noise out there that we can be
exposed to on a daily basis.”
Gruenwald, who gives hearing loss
awareness talks to Vanderbilt’s School
of Music, explains that overexposure to
loud noise for extended periods of time
can increase the risk for anyone, no
matter what age, to experience Noise
Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). But
there’s reason to suggest that people
may start to experience NIHL at an
earlier age either related to their job or
recreational activities, especially in the
musical hub of Nashville.
“Sometimes the noise exposure in your
younger years, it’s not until it starts
coupling with age that it starts
snowballing faster,” says Gruenwald.
“So it might be that, ‘I got just this
little bit of hearing loss and a little bit
of damage now,’ and it’s not until my
later years that it’s really going to
become a problem.”
What noises could put me at risk
during leisure activities ?
US workplace safety bodies the
National Institute for Occupational
Safety ( NIOSH) and Occupational Safety
and Health Association ( OSHA ) set the
standard sound exposure limit at 85
decibels, which is as loud as city traffic
heard from inside a car. Extended
exposure to anything above that can
certainly put people at a greater risk for
more hearing loss as time goes on.
NIHL can happen immediately but it’s
also very common for effects to not be
noticeable until later in life.
Headphones on music players can reach
sound levels as high as 120 decibels,
according to a study from the
University of Leicester, which is
extremely dangerous as noises that
exceed 110dB can “strip away myelin
sheath from the nerve cells, which
hinders the delivery of electrical signals
from the ears to the brain.” If you
damage your ear in this way, it’s
permanent and cannot be reversed.
If you’re overexposed to loud
noises when you’re younger,
it’s common to have more
severe hearing loss when
you’re older
“Power tools are about 90dB,” says Dr
Todd Ricketts, Professor and Director of
the Department of Hearing and Speech
Sciences Graduate Studies at Vanderbilt
University Medical Center. “A chainsaw,
jet ski, that’s around a 100dB. Or if
you’re talking about, you know, a very
loud club or a loud concert it could be
105dB. Very loud car stereo, you could
be maybe even up to 120dB, or a little
bit more. When you’re talking about
being a couple of feet away from a gun,
you’re at 140dB, which is at or above
threshold of pain.”
Many people experience “ temporary
threshold shifts ,” where hearing is
muffled for a few days after a loud
concert or clubbing, but then returns. A
chemical process your ear does to
protect itself, sound appears to lose
resolution as the tiny hairs within your
inner ear become fatigued. To recover,
go to a quiet place until your hearing
regains sensitivity and avoid causing
more temporary threshold shifts in the
future.
How can I tell if my hearing is
going?
If you’re overexposed to loud noises
when you’re younger, it’s common to
have more severe hearing loss when
you’re older, or have it come at an
earlier age. Ricketts calls this a “delayed
effect.”
A video posted by AsapScience on
YouTube in 2013 asks “How old are
your ears?” Trouble is, you may not
like the results. Your ears may be 20
years older than you are.
If you’re worried about the quality of
your hearing there are free hearing test
applications you can take yourself as a
preliminary step to seeing an
audiologist.
For iPhone
UHear is one of the most popular and
tests for hearing sensitivity, how well
you can hear speech in noise, as well as
offers you a questionnaire.
Mimi Test was released April of this
year, has a sleek interface, and prompts
you to use Apple headphones for best
results and to make the test more
uniform. At the end of a test, Mimi
calculates your hearing age.
Android
Hearing Test has the display of a pure-
tone audiometry test that is used by
audiologists to identify the threshold
levels of an individual. Test results can
be printed, and if you download the
paid Pro Version test results can be
emailed.
How can tech help?
For those who do experience mild
hearing loss, technological
advancements like Soundhawk allow
you to hone in on certain voices in
crowded spaces – like bars and
restaurants – using only two earpieces
and lapel microphones. Invented by
former ear surgeon, Rodney Perkins,
Soundhawk operates via Bluetooth and
sound levels can be adjusted by
downloading the Soundhawk app.
How can I stop hearing loss from
getting worse?
To reduce the statistical increase of
experiencing NIHL earlier in life, turn
your smartphone volume down to a
safer level. Go to your settings and
drop the volume limit to about 70%,
that way you won’t be tempted to
listen to your music an unsafe level.
If you’re going to a concert or music
festival, don’t be afraid to bring
earplugs – you never know when you
might be shuffled closer to an amp.
Buy over-the-ear noise-cancelling
headphones instead of ear buds. That might be the simplest way to ensure that the tunes you enjoy don’t begin to rob you of a lifetime’s pleasure.
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