In recent years, 1 in 5 teenagers experience hearing loss. That is a 30% increase compared to 20 years ago. What seems to be the biggest factor? Headphones. When hearing loss occurs one common cause is the “death” of cilia, cilia are little hairs in the ear that allow people to hear by picking up vibrations. When cilia are damaged beyond repair, they don’t pick up vibrations anymore causing hearing loss.
Hearing loss is not ‘fixable’, there are devices, such as hearing aids, etc. that can help with different types of hearing loss but hearing loss from dead cilia is permanent.
Student Input
Karah Dorlus and Janya Linton, Coral Springs High School students, both agree that the majority of people use headphones. Linton says headphones are a “safety concern because sometimes it’s just too loud.”
Dorlus states, “Sometimes when someone is calling my name or when I have my headphones in, I just don’t be hearing them” She continues by saying how she uses her headphones every day just not at home. Linton says that she uses her every day as well.
Dorlus continues by saying how when she did have AirPods “it used to give me that warning that my music was too high” Linton also stated that her headphones told her before that
she had her volume too high. The difference was that Linton followed the warning while Dorlus “never did.”
The choice a person makes when they see signs of hearing loss is vital. Research has shown that damage to the cilia or the little hairs is irreversible, the hairs cannot regenerate.
Symptoms of Hearing Loss
Hearing loss symptoms can vary. Dr. Foy, an notable osteopathic pediatrician, states that some signs of hearing loss are:
▫ Ringing, roaring, hissing or buzzing in the ear.
▫ Difficulty understanding speech in noisy places or places with poor acoustics.
▫ Muffled sounds and a feeling that your ear is plugged.
▫ Listening to the TV or radio at a higher volume than in the past.
The multiple ways to prevent hearing loss:
1. Understanding that you may already have hearing loss and knowing if you do or not helps with the first steps. If you do then some restrictions need to be made, if you do not then the way you are using your headphones currently is good.
2. Regulate how much you use them. As seen before some people use their headphones all day or the majority of their day, such as D who says “I use my headphones when I go out, so like school or when I’m going grocery shopping” If a person is able to cut down how much they use their headphones it will prevent them from hearing loss in the long run.
3. Lower your volume. The biggest cause of all is how loud something is. Since headphones are so close to the ear it’s even worse, lowering the volume will help significantly reduce the chances of hearing loss.
4. Changing which ear is being used. Interchanging which ear is being used with the headphones gives time for the other ear to relax from constant noise preventing damage.
5. Do not turn up the volume in louder areas. The noise from the outer noise is not drowning the noise from your headphones rather it makes it seem quiet. This means that turning the volume up still has the same effect on the cilia.
6. Setting restrictions on your phone. By setting volume restrictions on your phone, it prevents you from putting the noise to a damaging level.
7. Following the 60/60 rule. Dr. Foy states that the 60/60 is to be followed “in regards to percentage of maximum volume and duration of time”
I. The 60/60 rule is having whichever device you are using for audio to be at 60% for up to 60 minutes. Which gives the ears time to heal.
Preventing is the key to not having permanent hearing loss.
