Aiden enjoys music. While he’s out jogging, he listens to Pandora, while working it’s Spotify, and he has a playlist for everything he does: cardio, cooking, video games, you name it. 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 unsafe ways to listen to music. But the more hazardous listening choice is often the one most of us choose.
How does listening to music cause hearing loss?
Your ability to hear can be damaged over time by exposure to loud noise. Normally, we think of aging as the principal cause of hearing loss, but more and more research reveals that it’s actually the accumulation of noise-related damage that is the problem here and not anything inherent in the aging process.
Younger ears which are still growing are, as it turns out, more susceptible to noise-related damage. And yet, the long-term harm from high volume is more likely to be disregarded by young adults. So there’s an epidemic of younger individuals with hearing loss thanks, in part, to loud headphone use.
Can you listen to music safely?
It’s obviously dangerous to enjoy music at max volume. But there is a safer way to listen to your tunes, and it normally involves turning the volume down. Here are a couple of general guidelines:
- For adults: No more than 40 hours of weekly listening on a device and keep the volume lower than 80dB.
- For teens and young children: 40 hours is still okay but lower the volume to 75dB.
About five hours and forty minutes per day will be about forty hours every week. That may seem like a lot, but it can go by rather quickly. But we’re conditioned to keep track of time our whole lives so most of us are rather good at it.
The harder part is keeping track of your volume. Volume isn’t measured in decibels on the majority of smart devices such as TVs, computers, and smartphones. It’s calculated on some arbitrary scale. It might be 1-100. Or it could be 1-10. You may have no idea what the max volume is on your device, or how close to the max you are.
How can you keep tabs on the volume of your music?
There are some non-intrusive, simple ways to figure out just how loud the volume on your music really is, because it’s not very easy for us to contemplate exactly what 80dB sounds like. It’s even more difficult to determine the difference between 80 and 75dB.
So using one of the many noise free monitoring apps is highly suggested. These apps, widely available for both iPhone and Android devices, will give you real-time readouts on the noises around you. In this way, you can make real-time alterations while monitoring your real dB level. Your smartphone will, with the correct settings, let you know when the volume goes too high.
As loud as a garbage disposal
Generally speaking, 80 dB is about as loud as your garbage disposal or your dishwasher. So, it’s loud, but it’s not that loud. Your ears will start to take damage at volumes above this threshold so it’s an important observation.
So you’ll want to be more mindful of those times at which you’re going beyond that decibel threshold. If you do listen to some music above 80dB, remember to limit your exposure. Maybe minimize loud listening to a song rather than an album.
Listening to music at a loud volume can and will cause you to have hearing problems over the long term. You can develop hearing loss and tinnitus. Your decision making will be more informed the more mindful you are of when you’re going into the danger zone. And safer listening will ideally be part of those decisions.
Contact us if you still have questions about the safety of your ears.