Do you own a mobile device such as a phone, mp3 or Ipod in which you listen to music on it through earphones? If so, you should be aware that these mobile listening devices increase the odds of ringing in the ears significantly. A recent study shows a significant increase of tinnitus and ringing in the ears for those that use earphones with portable listening devices.
Ear Phones Cause Ringing In The Ears (www.library.ttu.edu)
The real problem is that most of the damage that is being done to the ears and hearing will not be readily evident until it is too late. You can warn young people over and over, and we do just that here on our website, but it seems to make little effect on them until it’s too late. If you have a child that uses these devices, you should make certain that they see this article and read some of the other information here on our website.
Here is what Julie Power of www.greatlakesadovcate.com.au had to say in a recent article about the damage that using earphones creates:
ANVARA AKBAROVA says she ”can’t live” without her earphones plugged in to loud music on her phone or iPod, although friends have told her she is going deaf from continuous exposure.
Ms Akbarova is one of many Australians ”binge listening” – risking their hearing by listening to loud music for too long via headphones on their mobile phones or listening devices.
A study in progress of 1500 people aged 11 to 35 has found a significant incidence of tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, among people using mobile listening devices such as iPods, MP3s and smart phones.
Some young Australians are heading for hearing loss as a consequence, said Professor Harvey Dillon, the director of research with the government’s National Acoustic Laboratories, which has been conducting the research, its first survey on the incidence of tinnitus.
Earlier research by the laboratories found between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of people were getting unsafe doses of sound from mobile listening devices.
It also found evidence of binge listening, where many young people were exposed to loud music at dance parties and on their MP3 players at unsafe levels. For example, music at loud nightclubs, live music venues and concerts averaged 98 decibels. But at only 94 decibels music can start damaging hearing after an hour. If a person could not have a conversation with someone in front of them while listening to music, the noise was potentially dangerous, Professor Dillon said.
When the Herald tried to stop Ms Akbarova on one of Sydney’s busiest streets, Victoria Road, Gladesville, she couldn’t hear us. ”The road was noisy so it [her iPod] was pretty loud. I didn’t hear you. I saw you instead,” she said.
When Ms Akbarova first got her iPod six years ago she was addicted. ”I used to listen to it very loud,” she said. ”People told me I was going deaf. I had it up so loud that I couldn’t hear when I talked on the phone.” She would listen for over two hours while commuting to her job. You can read the rest of the original article here.
With 10 to 25% of people getting unsafe doses of sound from these mobile listening devices, the consequences for our future generations are going to be extremely debilitating. We have to educate people now while we still have a chance, and even more importantly, we have to get them to listen, because I believe that most all of them have heard the message that loud music can damage their ears. Most just don’t believe that it can happen to them, which is what triggered my bout of tinnitus and ringing ears.
We believe that the bigger issue is not that the education is not happening, but simply the fact that most young people believe that they are invincible and that there is no danger to them that these mobile listening devices increase the odds of ringing in the ears for them. It’s for this very reason that we believe parents must step in and take charge of this problem by setting rules around the use of earphones or even eliminate their use altogether where possible. In the end, we will all be better off without the damage that is currently being done to to the hearing of our society as a whole. Let’s work hard to cure tinnitus the easy way: By preventing it in the first place!
If it’s too late for you already and you suffer from ringing ears, you might want to check out this treatment for tinnitus.