iPods – Pumping up the Volume Causes Hearing Loss

It is true, many teens and young adults are pumping up the volume on these technological wonders and are unaware of the volume levels. The loud music damages the hair cells in the ear which are necessary to transform sound waves to the electrical signals that the brain understands as sound. Brian Fligor, the director of diagnostic audiology at Children’s Hospital in Boston, is familiar with this phenomenon. He says “using these devices at a high level for a long period of time increases the risk for temporary hearing loss.” The short-term damages are reversible but there is also the risk of permanent damage. Warning signs of iPod-induced hearing loss may include ringing in the ears and difficulty hearing what people are saying in a noisy room. Lawanna Brock reports that by the time these occur, the damage has already set in. “Noise-induced hearing loss sneaks up on you big time,” Fligor says.

Lawanna Brock discovered that insight into the iPod-Hearing deficit connection comes from a recent study involving 21 participants who listened to an MP3 player for a maximum of six sessions at varying levels. The researchers evaluated these people before and after the experiment via two standardized hearing measurements. They discovered that the subjects showed temporary changes in their hearing after listening to one hour of the music. According to new research led by Hanna Kempler, blasting your iPod or MP3 player is potentially harmful. Her study discovered actual documented noise-induced hearing loss related to recreational noise and the research team reported that more investigation is necessary to evaluate the long-term risk of cumulative recreational noise exposures.

Why Teens Risk the Damage

You have to ask yourself, why would anyone listen to these devices at maximum volume when you can hear them just fine at one-fourth of that? Lawanna Brock found out that researchers say it is a simple misunderstanding of the risk. Lead audiologist at the Colorado University and Boston Children’s Hospital, Cory Portnuff, speculates that teens may say they are concerned about hearing loss still listen to their iPods at high volumes. Psychologists say that teens live a personal fable and think the world revolves around them and that ‘it won’t happen to me.’ This is the contributing factor that makes most teens engage in risky behaviors. All of these misconceptions of the facts added to today’s long-lasting battery power encourages hearing loss. There have been some lawsuits filed, too. One man claimed that iPods are “not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss.” After that, some companies revised software to set the maximum volume at 100 dB, which is pretty loud. Unfortunately, there are still some devices that have recorded levels much higher than that.

Buyer Beware

The manufacturer of the iPod, Apple, Inc., has posted warnings on their website – “if you listen to music with headphones or earbuds, whether they’re connected to your iPod, your computer, or some other audio source, you should follow a few common-sense recommendations.” These include proper volume setting. “Hearing experts warn that noise-induced hearing deficit can also occur as a result of repeated exposure to loud sound over time. The louder the volume, the less time required before your hearing may be affected.”

Mann, D./WebMD (2011). IPods linked to temporary hearing loss. Retrieved from:

http://www.webmd.com/news/20100622/ipods-linked-to-temporary-hearing-loss

HealthcareMagic.com (2011). IPod usage and hearing loss. Retrieved from:

http://www.healthcaremagic.com/articles/iPod-Usage-and-Hearing-Loss/8053