“Jeff Hurst, 24, and Gianni Lee, 19, love their music so much they listen to it on their iPods for hours – maybe too many hours,’ Shirley Wang reports for Hearing Loss News and Reviews. “Hearing experts wonder whether the frequent use of these devices, particularly with the inserts that sit within the ear, are contributing to noise-induced hearing loss. ‘The incidence of hearing loss is underappreciated,’ said Thomas Willcox, associate professor in otolaryngology at Thomas Jefferson University. ‘We’re going to have a boom of this population because of the increased exposures that previous generations haven’t had.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Previous generations? Hasn’t the Walkman been around for over 26 years now?
Wang continues, “Willcox has seen several teenage patients in the last year whose parents brought them in complaining that their kids listened to the television very loudly and didn’t respond when they were told to turn it down. The parents wanted to know if their kids were just being typical teenagers or if they had a hearing problem. ‘They don’t have ear disease,’ said Willcox. ‘The ultimate risk factor is that they’re using their iPods frequently.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In related news, jabbing scissors into your eyeballs can cause blindness. In all seriousness, though, be kind to your ears and keep the volume down on your iPod and any other device that makes sound, so that you’ll be able to hear well for your whole life. It isn’t an iPod issue, it’s a volume issue; making your ears ring is not a good idea.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
London bombing victim’s hearing ‘saved by his Apple iPod earphones’ according to doctors – July 11, 2005
“The real problem is that our cities are so loud. If I want to hear my iPod over the subway noise, traffic noise, construction noise, etc, I need to crank up the volume. If I want it to blot out that noise completely, I need it even louder.” – mrboma
The only real way you are going to get around a high ambient noise level is to purchase a good set of padded earphones. Not a stylish solution, but it works. You’ll actually be able to hear more from your music at lower volumes than trying to drown out the background racket.
This problem became evident about 15 years ago when hearing tests were given to young adults that listened to music in their portable music players such as the Sony Walkman. Many of them had the same hearing as people 65 – 70 years of age.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, 1998), the maximum exposure time at 85 dBA is 8 hours. Long-term exposure to this sound level will usually result in hearing loss. Your average vacuum cleaner puts out this much noise. Acceptable exposure times at 110 dBA drops the maximum exposure to a mere minute-and-a-half. Power saws, leaf blowers, and rock concerts fall into this catagory.
It’s ironic, but at work I have to be aware of noise levels and provide hearing protection when 85dBA is exceeded. These same people I am attempting to protect, however, go home and listen to music in their cars. They crank up the volume so much that you can hear it a full city block away. I shudder to think about what it sounds like at point-blank range.
I read somewhere that Steve Jobs had them increase the volume range on the iPod because he is a bit hard of hearing himself. Maybe a few too many Dylan concerts sitting right in front of the speakers?
Anyway, I am glad they give you the option of turning them up because some of the stuff i listen to can be pretty soft and so I need the volume to be able to catch everything.
Uh, so running iPodlinux so I can have the volume up MUCH higher is a bad idea then?
The 1st Gen were loud enough until the stupid french law thing. Now it’s far too low, especially annoying when you have an mp3 which isn’t quite so loud and you’re not at a computer to normalize it.
My iPod goes to 11. That’s one louder, innit?
psha i never respond when im freakin watchin tv and i also listen loud… Maybe TV is to blame?
I didnt even own an iPod when i was doing that, nor any other music device.. what a bunch of crap.
To all who say the hearing loss is a bunch crap – I wonder how many of you will be running to the hearing-aid stores for batteries?…
Similar things WERE said about the Walkman at it’s height of popularity. The Boomer generation is grabbing for hearing-aids at a far younger age than their parents.
I wonder why?….
What?!?!
If users in cities try to drown out environmental noise by raising the iPod’s volume over it then it is possible that they will damage their ears. I use in-ear headphones partly because they block out most environmental noise, letting me listen to music at low volume levels.
Nigel Tufnel, why don’t you make ten the loudest setting?
Umm, Yeah.
hey old rocker. I had my astratune strapped to mu lge like a holster and skied listening to elvis costello and the ramones while videotapoing with my portable betamax.
sans poles.
Raced the GS and the Super G.
Bjorn Tooski