Teens Are Losing It
Hearing loss from mp3s
You see them on ears everywhere. Grade schoolers. Teens. Soccer moms. Weekend warriors. Portable digital music players have become standard equipment in the library, outdoors or in the work cubicle. 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 saw a 12 year old recently who had the hearing loss of many 60 year-olds,” says Molly Parker, Au.D., Audiologist with ENT Professional Services, Davenport. “He was a marginal candidate for hearing aids from noise exposure and his hearing loss was entirely preventable. In general, we are seeing younger people with hearing problems long before we should.”
“I saw a 12 year-old recently who had the hearing loss of many 60 year-olds”
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 Parker. “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. Parker 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? “Excessive noise exposure can be caused by a single loud blast such as a gun blast, or longer exposure from a lower level sound. 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 Parker. “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.” Parker says that while the most common age she sees for this problem are men and women in their 40s (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.”
