Don't Lose the Music!

My friend, Tom, who has run several marathons and trained for other endurance events commented the other day, “How did people ever train for this stuff before MP3 players?”   That inspired me to choose this week’s topic—hearing loss from loud music/headphone use.  I’ll be completely honest: I love my iPod shuffle and the Sennheiser earphones that Andy got my for Christmas a year ago, and I use them every time I run alone or on the treadmill.  I try to keep the volume reasonably low but do turn up the volume a bit if it is the Goo Doo Dolls playing or if I’m at the end of an interval workout or long run.  How much does this affect my hearing I wonder?

Every day, we experience sound in our environment, and when we hear these sounds at safe levels, our hearing is unaffected. However, when we are exposed sounds that are too loud (over 85 decibels) or loud sounds that last a long time—sensitive structures in our inner ear can be damaged, causing noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). These sensitive structures, called hair cells, are small sensory cells that convert sound energy into electrical signals that travel to the brain. Once damaged, our hair cells cannot grow back.  NIHL can be caused by a one-time exposure to an intense “impulse” sound, such as an explosion, or by continuous exposure to loud sounds over an extended period of time, such as industrial noise or excessive use of MP3 players.
NIHL is 100 percent preventable. All individuals should understand the hazards of noise and how to practice good hearing health in everyday life. To protect your hearing:

Ø  Know which noises can cause damage (those at or above 85 decibels).
Ø  Wear earplugs or other hearing protective devices when involved in a loud activity
Ø  Be alert to hazardous noise in the environment.
Ø  Protect the ears of children who are too young to protect their own.
Ø  Make family, friends, and colleagues aware of the hazards of noise.

RNID sponsors the Don't Lose the Music Campaign (http://www.dontlosethemusic.com) and has been warning personal stereo users for some time that they could be risking long term damage to their hearing by turning up the volume to levels that could cause permanent hearing loss. They were one of the groups that lobbied Apple to introduce the software update to allow iPod users to set an upper volume limit.

Figures show that 51.4% of 16-24 year olds listen to their stereos at least an hour a day with 19.7% listening for more than 21 hours a week. New research conducted for the Don't Lose the Music campaign reveals that a shocking 58% of 16-30 year olds are completely unaware of any risk to their hearing from using MP3 players and other audio products that attach directly to the ears. RNID is so concerned that the MP3 generation could be at risk from premature hearing damage, that it's calling on manufacturers of MP3 players to protect consumers by providing clearer warnings on packaging about the dangers of listening too loudly to their products.

So, what can you do if you have an iPod addiction?

v    Turn it down a notch! Even a small decrease in volume could massively lessen the damage to your ears.


v    If you can hear sound from your headphones from two or three feet away, they are probably too loud. 


v    Avoid using the volume to drown out background noise, for example the sound of the train or traffic

v    Take a five minute rest period for every hour of listening to allow ears to recover.

Sources: www.ehealthmd.com, www.dontlosethemusic.com, www.hearinglossweb.com, RNID