Aiden enjoys music. While he’s out running, he listens to Pandora, while working it’s Spotify, and he has a playlist for everything he does: gaming, gym time, cooking, and everything else. Everything in his life has a soundtrack and it’s playing on his headphones. But lasting hearing damage might be happening as a result of the very loud immersive music he enjoys.
For your ears, there are healthy ways to listen to music and hazardous ways to listen to music. However, most of us choose the more dangerous listening choice.
How can hearing loss be the result of listening to music?
As time passes, loud noises can cause degeneration of your hearing abilities. We’re accustomed to thinking of hearing loss as an issue related to aging, but more and more research indicates that it’s actually the accumulation of noise-induced damage that is the issue here and not anything inherent in the aging process.
It also turns out that younger ears are particularly vulnerable to noise-induced damage (they’re still developing, after all). And yet, younger adults are more inclined to be dismissive of the long-term hazards of high volume. So because of extensive high volume headphone usage, there has become an epidemic of hearing loss in young individuals.
Can you listen to music safely?
Unrestricted max volume is obviously the “dangerous” way to listen to music. But there is a safer way to enjoy your tunes, and it usually involves turning down the volume. Here are a couple of general guidelines:
- For adults: No more than 40 hours of weekly listening on a device and keep the volume below 80dB.
- For teens and young children: You can still listen for 40 hours, but keep the volume level below 75dB.
About five hours and forty minutes per day will be about forty hours every week. Though that might seem like a while, it can seem to pass quite quickly. Even still, most individuals have a pretty solid idea of keeping track of time, it’s something we’re trained to do effectively from a really young age.
Monitoring volume is a little less user-friendly. Volume isn’t gauged in decibels on the majority of smart devices like TVs, computers, and smartphones. It’s measured on some arbitrary scale. Perhaps it’s 1-100. Or it could be 1-10. You might not have any idea how close to max volume you are or even what max volume on your device is.
How can you track the volume of your tunes?
It’s not really easy to know how loud 80 decibels is, but fortunately there are some non-intrusive ways to tell how loud the volume is. Distinguishing 75 from, let’s say, 80 decibels is even more puzzling.
So utilizing one of the numerous noise free monitoring apps is greatly recommended. These apps, generally available for both iPhone and Android devices, will give you real-time readouts on the noises surrounding you. In this way, you can make real-time adjustments while monitoring your actual dB level. Your smartphone will, with the correct settings, inform you when the volume gets too loud.
As loud as a garbage disposal
Your garbage disposal or dishwasher is typically around 80 decibels. So, it’s loud, but it’s not too loud. It’s a relevant observation because 80dB is about as much noise as your ears can handle without damage.
So pay close attention and try to avoid noise above this volume. And limit your exposure if you do listen to music over 80dB. Maybe minimize loud listening to a song instead of an album.
Over time, loud listening will cause hearing problems. You can develop hearing loss and tinnitus. The more you can be aware of when your ears are going into the danger zone, the more informed your decision-making can be. And safer listening will hopefully be part of those decisions.
Give us a call if you still have questions about keeping your ears safe.