The world today is a boisterous place. Technology has made many things easier, but increased noise pollution in our daily lives. But, how has it affected the children? Find out how common noise-induced hearing loss in children is nowadays.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Noise-induced hearing loss happens when the inner ear is damaged. Wear and tear to the tiny hairs in your ear or nerve cells occur if you are exposed to loud noise on a regular basis. When that happens, signals to the brain have problems transmitting efficiently.
When hearing loss occurs, you may hear sounds muffled. Especially higher pitched tones. You may experience difficulty differentiating words against other background noise.
The Statistics
Does your child listen through earbuds all day long? This can contribute to hearing loss. Twelve percent of children between 6 and 19 have noise-induced hearing loss.
In general, any sounds louder than 85 to 90 decibels may cause permanent hearing loss over an extended period of time. And, experts suggest that listening through headphones is limited to 60 minutes a day at 60% of the total volume. Of course, not many teens are paying attention to this.
Consequently, hearing loss has increased 30% since the 1990s. And, headphones are primarily to blame. But, there are a couple of ways to tell if your headphones are too loud without using a decibel app.
Is It Too Loud?
The first way involves turning your device on at the volume you would normally listen. Next, hold your headphones away from you at arm’s length. If you can still hear what’s coming out of your headphones, it’s probably too loud.
Another way to tell if your headphones are too loud is to have someone sit next to you while you are listening. If they can hear what you are listening to, it’s too loud. So, do yourself a favor and turn it down.
Final Thought
Noise-induced hearing loss in children is on the rise. But, you can do something about it. Limit the time and volume your child can use headphones. And, monitor your own use as well.
