‘Noise-induced hearing-loss’

As teens plug in, Parents fret

Parents worry-lists are typically long and get longer when their children are in their teens. And high on many lists, it seems that they fear hearing loss.

Parents, in fact, worry more about their kids damaging their hearing than they do about other health related issues, including ear infections, sleep problems and asthma. The fears aren’t unfounded, according to hearing specialists.

As personal music players have become so common among teens, doctors are saying that they are seeing increasing number of children and teens for hearing evaluations. Certainly more and more teens and youngsters are seen who seem to have hearing loss in hospital and on clinics.

About 12.5 percent of the youth aged 6 to 19 that make nearly 5.2 million kids have sustained permanent hearing damage from excessive noise exposure according to the centres of diseases control and prevention. The rise in popularity of personal music players, plus teens’ love of loud rock concerts, underlies much of the problem.

This is the main problem that the exposure to loud music form such sources are very dangerous. A whisper for instance is typically 30 decibels -- the unit of sound measurement -- by an ear specialist. According to the concerned organization, if we are exposed to 85 decibels for eight hours, we have to wear ear-protection. Music form personal players and concerts can no doubt be louder than that. Some personal music players can emit music of 115 decibels.

Noises of 100 decibels can damage hearing after 15 minutes. But there are many parents that can preserve the hearing of even the biggest teen music fan. Educate teens about noise-induced hearing loss. And then “empower” them to take responsibility. It is recommended to parents that a time limit must be set for their children’s listening to music.

We must consider buying protected gear. Noise-isolating headphones, for instance, can block the environmental noise so the person can listen and enjoy the music at lower volumes. Simple earplugs can help tone down convert volume, but the bigger, over the ear models work better and are safe.