Doctors are noticing a trend of Americans losing their hearing earlier in life.
One theory behind the increase is that headphones, specifically earbuds, might play a role in hearing loss.
Caryn McLellan, an audiologist at McGovern Medical School at UT Health, said summers at home, when children and teenagers are sitting around listening to their phones, iPods and video games, is when they could be doing the worst damage.
“Music has never been more accessible or more personal," McLellan said. "Kids are listening to it in school, at home, on the bus. It's constant noise exposure all the time.”
She said the volume of one's music should not be more than 60 percent of what a device is capable of, and that should be limited to 60 minutes per day.
“The louder it gets, the less time you have,” McLellan said.
When using a digital sound level meter, 85 decibels is the maximum that a person's ears can handle before hearing is damaged.
McLellan used a sound level meter to put people to the test in the Texas Medical Center. Even though the environment was noisy from construction, traffic and people, McLellan said it was a realistic environment where people tend to turn up the volume. In that case, the music does not block the sound; it adds to the noise, creating a lot that your ears have to process at once.
“(It's) very safe,” she told one jogger. “(It's) less than 80 decibels, so you can listen to that all day long if you want.”
McLellan said it was a red flag when she was standing next to someone wearing earbuds whose music she could hear. Listening to music over 100 decibels means that the listener is seconds away from potential hearing loss, she said.
“At about 110 decibels, you have 90 seconds before it starts damaging your hearing,” McLellan said.
Imagine all the times after a club, concert or sports event when you ears are ringing. That ringing means that the damage is done, she said.
“Your hearing may temporarily go back to normal, but you've done some damage, and the more you do that, the more times you expose your ears to that kind of noise, the more likely it is that you're going to be developing permanent hearing loss,” McLellan said.
She suggests using custom-fit earbuds to save your ears. They range in price from $50 to $100.
