Cranking The Volume On Your Ipod Or Mp3 Player Can Damage Hearing

Children have often loved listening to their favorite music, as well as the louder the better – much to their parents\’ dismay. Inside the 1980s, the portable tape recorder with headphones – which came to be referred to as the \”Walkman\” – enabled teenagers to listen to their music as loud as they wanted, anywhere they wanted, without having disturbing any person around them.

But the a lot more modern rendition of the Walkman – portable MP3 Players and iPods – pose a major threat to our children\’s hearing wellness, and to ours.

The issue is really a mixture of the technology of portable digital devices that creates a non-buffered crystal clear sound, and also the kind of headphones typically employed with them, which don\’t have a buffer either. In December 2005, Dean Garstecki, an audiologist and professor at Northwestern University reported that more and more young people were being diagnosed with the types of hearing loss typically found in older adults. He attributed this trend to the \”earbud\” type headphones that usually accompany iPod and MP3 Players.

With the earbud headphones, the sound frequencies are not buffered as they are with the a lot more conventional, ear cup-style headsets. Newsweek Magazine recently reported that researchers at the Home Ear Institute found that listeners can unfortunately increase the volume of today\’s portable digital devices with out the \”signal distortion that occurs with traditional analog audio.\” The older-model headphones that were popular just 15 to 20 years ago – that have ear cups outside of the ears – had that distortion when the volume was turned up, which functioned as a much-needed buffer to protect our hearing. Today\’s technology does not supply that buffer – the earpiece is placed in the ear, not outside of it, as well as the digital devices don\’t create that distortion, regardless of how high the volume.

Additionally, folks frequently listen to these devices while they are on the go, and have a tendency to crank the volume in an attempt to drown outside noise, further posing a risk to our hearing. Making use of the earbud style headphones throughout activities such as physical exercise, for example, puts the user at a higher risk. In the course of exercise, blood, which can act as a buffer, is diverted from the ears to other parts of the body – so our already vulnerable hearing is in even much more jeopardy.

Headwize reports that a study conducted on music listeners using headphones revealed that although indoors with no background noise, the participants had been comfortable with their music at 69 decibels. Outdoors, where the background noise was recorded at 65 decibels, participants using their headphones turned the volume up to 82 decibels and as high as 95 decibels to drown out the surrounding noise. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines limit exposure to noise at this level to no a lot more than four hours every day. The study concluded that the participants were at risk for hearing harm and suggested \”avoiding continuous use of [portable stereos] in noisy conditions.\”

Northwestern University\’s Dean Garstecki offers a lot more specific guidelines: His 60 percent/60 minute rule – listen to MP3 Players and iPods for \”about an hour a day and at levels below 60 percent of maximum volume.\” The dilemma is, most of the population using headphones – young music fans – listen to their music for much longer than one hour per day. But, you can assist minimize hearing loss, damage and issues although listening to your favorite music as long as you want to – the secret is in the headphones.

Headphones such as the EX29 Extreme Isolation Noise Reduction Headphones help block out external noise allowing you to hear the fine details of your music without having blowing out your ear drums. The ear cup fits over the ear, and not in it, and the headphones are lightweight, don\’t need batteries and could be used together with your MP3 Player or iPod. With 29 decibels of isolation from outside sound, the quiet headphones block outside noise and there is no have to crank the volume of your music.

Aging rock stars like the Who\’s Pete Townsend, who has some permanent hearing loss from years of exposure to loud music, and Mick Fleetwood, who has teamed up with Energizer batteries to promote hearing loss prevention, have brought public attention to the truth that many of us take our hearing for granted. But there\’s no need to turn off your music – just be smarter about how you listen to it. Should you are using your MP3 Player or iPod when you\’re exercising, in a noisy environment or you just desire to hear the fine details of your music, ditch the earbud headphones and reach for a set of noise reduction ones instead. And you\’ll be enjoying your favorite music for a lengthy time to come.

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