Imagine sitting quietly in your doctor’s waiting room then, all of a sudden, hearing a loud screeching noise coming from somewhere nearby. Odds are, the noise is coming from a bored teenager listening to his or her music on full blast with a pair of ear buds.

World Health Organization reported in May 2015 that more than a billion teens and young adults are at risk of losing their hearing from music or noise that is too loud. This loss can occur from not just headphones but from bars, restaurants and concerts.

Listening to music on full volume is a common occurring theme in teenagers of this generation. According to a study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association, one in five teens in the United States suffer from hearing loss, which means that 12.5 percent of kids ages 6 through 19 are subjected to some sort of damage to their hearing by listening to music too loud. These statistics are thirty percent higher than what they were in the late 90s.

This is because of the technological advances we have made as a society, with the introduction of mp3 players, iPods, iPhones and iPads. When the first mp3 player came out in 1998 people started to listen to their music anywhere they wanted and, as long as they had their ear buds, as loud as they wanted.

However, most people don’t understand how listening to music on full blast can damage their ears. Being around loud noises and music is sometimes a routine for young people to escape the outside world. Although, there is something they should consider before sticking in their ear buds and cranking up the volume.

The ear contains many tiny hair cells called nerve endings. These hair cells interpret the different sounds people hear and convert them from sound signals to electrical signals. Then, the nerves in the ear carry these signals to the brain to recognize the sound, completing the process. However, these tiny hairs in an ear are very sensitive and can be damaged by listening to something way too loud for way too long.

The decibel is the unit for measuring the level of sound, and 0 decibel is the softest sound that anyone is able to hear. Normal talking can range from 40 to 60 decibels, and is not damaging to the ear. When a sound starts to have around 85 decibels, it can be extremely dangerous to your hearing.

Headphones have the potential to reach a level of over 100 decibels.

Additionally, hearing loss does not just affect teenagers. Dr. Darshan Vyas of Hearing Professionals indicates that hearing loss is also a major problem in senior citizens. He indicates that recent studies out of John Hopkins University have shown a strong association between hearing loss and other general health conditions.
“Hearing loss is known to have a strong correlation with cognitive decline, dementia, risk of falling, cardio vascular disease, and many other health conditions.” Dr. Vyas states. He urges all seniors above the age of 55 to be tested for hearing loss or discuss it with their family doctor. He also added that he is seeing an increasing number of young adults and teens with hearing loss issues and recommends discussing any issues with a family doctor.

Listening to music on full blast and exposing the ear to extremely loud sounds can be detrimental to a person’s hearing. Hearing loss and inner ear damage are real problems. Luckily, they also have real answers. Anyone can prevent unnecessary damage to their hearing by limiting the time they spend listening to music on headphones, or by wearing ear protection when going to a loud concert or working on a construction crew. 
So, next time, when you hear that loud and screeching noise coming from someone’s ear buds, tap them on the shoulder and tell them that they might want to turn the volume down. You might have just saved their ability to hear the world around them.