IPods and other portable music devices have changed the way many people listen to music. As the popularity of these devices continues to rise, hearing experts worry that the number of people with hearing loss will become as commonplace as the devices themselves.
Hearing experts are concerned that hearing loss will take place because exposure to music through these devices can be both loud and long. With the new MP3 players, such as the iPod, significant improvements in sound quality are possible in smaller and more portable devices. Sound quality, portability and convenience translate into more time spent listening to music, which makes the potential for damage even greater.
"With the older devices, like the Walkman, if you turned them up all the way, they sounded very bad, so people didn't do it. Now, they don't sound bad at maximum volume, and that could pose a problem," says Jodi Cook, Ph.D., director of the hearing aid program at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
Although any hearing loss that occurs may not be apparent for years, once that damage occurs, it's permanent and irreversible.
How MP3 players can cause hearing loss
Music and other loud noises cause hearing loss by damaging the hair cells in the cochlea, a part of your inner ear that helps transmit sound information to your brain. These hair cells can often recover from temporary damage. If you've ever been to a rock concert and your hearing sounded muffled for the next day or two, you've experienced temporary damage to these hair cells.
But extremely loud noise, such as a gunshot, or moderately loud noise that continues for long periods of time, can permanently damage these hair cells. Once these hairs are destroyed, they don't come back and at least partial hearing loss occurs. About 30 million Americans currently have some hearing loss and approximately one-third of them have noise-induced hearing loss.
Any sound above 90 decibels (db) may cause some hearing loss if the exposure is prolonged. But most portable music players can produce sounds up to 120 db. That's louder than a lawn mower or a chain saw and equivalent to an ambulance siren.
The problem is that you don't feel hearing loss occurring. You won't know until years later that some of your hearing has been permanently destroyed.
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