[Harp-L] Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Young people.....

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Long:  but I hope some come away with just a wee bit of new  information. 
 
Continuing the "Tinnitus and Sudden Hearing Loss theme....
Elizabeth
 
 
....."Updated: 05:32  PM EDT - 9/12/2005 (AOL news)
Doctors See Rise in Headphone Hearing Loss
Popularity of Music  Players Means People Listen Louder, Longer
By MARTHA IRVINE,  AP
 
CHICAGO (Sept. 12) - Everywhere  she turns, Angella Day sees people carrying 
portable music players, often with  the ear buds stuffed firmly in place. 
"They're very widespread," says Day, a  senior at Chicago's DePaul University who 
regularly listens to music on her own  iPod while studying or working out. "So 
addicting."
What she and others may not realize is that many people  their age have 
already damaged their hearing. And researchers fear that the  growing popularity of 
portable music players and other items that attach  directly to the ears - 
including cell phones - is only making it worse. 
"It's a different level of use than we've seen in the  past," says Robert 
Novak, director of clinical education in audiology at Purdue  University in 
Indiana. "It's becoming more of a full-day listening experience,  as opposed to 
just when you're jogging." 
Increasingly, Novak says he's seeing too many young people  with "older ears 
on younger bodies" - a trend that's been building since the  portable Walkman 
made its debut a few decades back. 
To document the trend, he and colleagues have been randomly  examining 
students and found a disturbing and growing incidence of what is known  as 
noise-induced hearing loss. Usually, it means they've lost the ability to  hear higher 
frequencies, evidenced at times by mild ear-ringing or trouble  following 
conversations in noisy situations. 
Hearing specialists say they're also seeing more people in  their 30s and 40s 
- many of them among the first Walkman users - who suffer from  more 
pronounced tinnitus, an internal ringing or even the sound of whooshing or  buzzing in 
the ears. 
"It may be that we're seeing the tip of the iceberg now,"  says Dr. John 
Oghalai, director of The Hearing Center at Texas Children's  Hospital in Houston, 
who's treating more of this age group. "I would not be  surprised if we start 
to see even more of this." 
Noise-induced hearing loss happens any number of ways, from  attending noisy 
concerts and clubs to using firearms or loud power tools and  even 
recreational vehicles (snowmobiles and some motorcycles are among the  offenders). 
Today, doctors say many people also are wearing headphones,  not just to 
enjoy music, but also to block out ambient noise on buses, trains or  just the 
street. And all of it can contribute to hearing loss. 
"The tricky part is that you don't know early on. It takes  multiple 
exposures and sometimes years to find out," says Dr. Colin Driscoll, an  otologist at 
Minnesota's Mayo Clinic. 
One telltale sign that you've done damage to your ears is  when you leave a 
loud venue with ringing ears. If you rest your ears, they might  recover, at 
least partially, doctors say. But with repeated exposure comes more  damage to 
the hair cells in the inner ear, which are key to good hearing. 
With long-lasting rechargeable batteries, people who use  portable music 
players also are listening longer - and not giving their ears a  rest, says Deanna 
Meinke, an audiologist at the University of Northern Colorado  who heads the 
National Hearing Conservation Association's task force on children  and 
hearing. 
Often, she says, people also turn up the volume to  ear-damaging levels. 
A survey published this summer by Australia's National  Acoustic Laboratories 
found, for instance, that about 25 percent of people using  portable stereos 
had daily noise exposures high enough to cause hearing damage.  And further 
research by Britain's Royal National Institute for Deaf People  determined that 
young people, ages 18 to 24, were more likely than other adults  to exceed 
safe listening limits. 
How much is too much? 
Meinke says a good rule of thumb comes from a study  published in December: 
Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital determined that  listening to a 
portable music player with headphones at 60 percent of its  potential volume for 
one hour a day is relatively safe. 
Experts also recommend protecting hearing in other ways -  standing away from 
loud speakers, for instance, and using hearing protection  when using 
machinery at work, home or for recreation. 
Day, the DePaul student, concedes that she's never thought  to carry ear 
plugs with her, as Driscoll at Mayo Clinic and others suggest. 
"So what if you gave them out at the door at the concert?  Would people wear 
them more?" Driscoll asks. "I think some would." 
To that end, professional musicians have formed Hearing  Education and 
Awareness for Rockers (HEAR) to promote hearing protection. And  Meinke's committee 
is developing a teacher kit with a meter to show dangerous  levels of sound - 
something educators in Oregon also have demonstrated with a  Web-based program 
called Dangerous Decibels. 
"In the future," Meinke says, "I hope people will wear ear  plugs the same as 
they wear their bike helmets or wear a seat belt." 
09/12/05 14:11 EDT