Loud Music Can Cause Hearing Loss

Wellness

oi-Amrisha Sharma

By Amrisha Sharma

Thursday, June 2, 2011, 12:52

While buying a mobile phone the buyer's first question is ' Is it a music phone?' and ' What is its MB?' Wherever you go, all you see is ear plugs or headphones in the ears. The new scenario at buses, trains, roads, parks and even teenagers bedroom is a person in ear phones. Loud music is the new trend after the rock live concerts have captured the attention of youth off late. But, the users do not think about the long term effect of music on their body and health.

Any kind of loud music, not just rock music, can cause a temporary to permanent loss of hearing. Constant pounding music for a long period of time can cause deafness. It happens a lot of time when you have to shout to make yourself heard especially when you listen to music or when you attend concerts. This loud music effect has a great impact on the mechanism of the inner ear which will gradually get injured.

Temporary Hearing Loss: Noise inducing hearing loss can occur at any age but it is a preventable condition. Steps can be taken to protect ear damage at this level. This happens after one is exposed to loud music even if it is only for 15 minutes. In this state, one can not hear as they do normally and they get prone to suffer from tinnitus (a fancy word for ringing in the ears). Tinnitus can be caught when the ears feels clicking, buzzing or hissing sounds and rings in kilohertz. This will go away gradually and the hearing soon returns to normal. Temporary hearing loss is most common after one attends the first concert show or is not a regular high pitch music lover. But it will become permanent with repeated exposure.

Best way to use ear plugs or headphones:

1.Listen to music at moderate level. People around you should be able to talk and heard whilst listening to music. If people need to shout to be heard to you then the volume is too loud.

2.For those who wear headphones like Walkmans, the volume is also loud if the person standing near you till 3 feet distance can hear the music coming through your headphones.

3.Exercise can also aggravate noise-induced hearing loss. While working out in a gym, stressed, the ears become more susceptible which leads to hearing damage.

What is loud music effect on the ears?

The ear has 3 areas namely: the outer, middle and the inner ear. Ear drum (a thin membrane) divides the middle and the outer ear. When one hears to music, the sound waves passes through the outer ear down to the auditory canal, where the sound hits the ear drum thus making it vibrate. Tiny hairs in the cochlea (snail-shaped organ in the inner ear) transforms these sound vibrations into nerve impulses which are later transmitted to the brain through cochlear (auditory) nerve. Damage to cochlea leads to hair loss which is symptom of noise induced hearing loss.

What now?

The big culprits are not just the devices (i Pods, MP3 Players or Mobile phones), but the tiny ear-bud style headsets which come with these devices. The ear buds are more likely to cause loss of hearing than the muff type earphones used in Walkmans and portable CD players. Ears are very delicate and prolonged exposure to sound pressure levels above 85dBA will cause damage to the ears. Don't let the temporary loss of hearing become permanent. Difficulty in hearing high pitch voice is possible due to the loss in high frequency levels which will make many words sound alike like 'hill', 'sill' and 'fill' will sound similar.

Protect your ear and just turn down the volume to prevent ear damage!

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.