Hearing Loss: an Unintentional Side Effect of Rocking Out
ACDC famously crooned that “rock and roll ain’t noise pollution, and rock and roll ain’t gonna die,” but it certainly could lead to hearing loss. Many professional musicians have experienced hearing loss and phantom ear ringing, but music-induced auditory problems are not limited to those who play sold out stadium shows – even the most everyday person jamming to their iPod favorites is at risk for developing hearing loss.
It has long been accepted that if you like the music you are listening to, you should crank up the volume. However, this is harmful to auditory health. In fact, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that more than 30 million Americans are exposed to harmful sound levels on a regular basis, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). But that’s not all – more than a third of the 28 million Americans who have actually suffered hearing loss only developed the condition due to noise.
Moderate noise levels fall between 40 to 50 decibels, and are equivalent to the sound of moderate rainfall or a quiet room, according to ASHA. The sounds of everyday life fall more into the “very loud” noise level category, with the sound of busy streets, traffic, and conversations falling between 60 to 80 decibels. The peak of most rock music is about twice that level, blaring in at 150 deafening decibels. This is fine if you don’t stand too close for too long to the speakers at your favorite band’s show, but many portable music device lovers are rocking out with their music cranked up to about 115 decibels for hours on end, with the sound being piped directly into their ear canals. This spells trouble for auditory health.
Music players like iPods also don’t help matters by having long-lasting batteries that can loop eardrum shattering songs for 15 hours or more. There has been an increase in the number of hearing loss reports from iPod users, many of them young adults and teenagers who should not be suffering hearing loss yet. In fact, some teenagers already feel the need to listen to their music at top volume because they have already suffered some hearing loss, making it difficult to listen to music at lower volumes. Ironically, this action only leads to additional hearing loss, which in turn forces the listener to turn up the volume to even higher and more hazardous levels to compensate. The best thing to do to prevent music-related hearing loss is to not attend too many concerts where your seat is right by the speakers. Also, if possible, space your concerts apart so that you are not barraging your ears with harmful noise levels night after night. Also, simply turn down the volume of your MP3 player. If you find it difficult to hear your music at lower volumes, consider investing in better headphones that will silence outside noises and allow you to hear quieter music better.
