Love music? Love your ears!

Many music fans couldn’t imagine life without their beloved MP3 player, yet - for the so-called MP3 generation - listening to music too loudly, for long periods of time through headphones may be leading to a life without music.

For those who listen to an MP3 player on a bus, train or on the way the work, the chances are they turn the volume up to drown out background noise and - without realising it - could be exposing their ears to a dangerous level of noise, causing irreparable damage to their hearing.
Hidden Hearing, a leading hearing health care specialist in Ireland and the UK, recently launched Hearing Awareness Week 2010 to raise awareness that Ireland’s MP3 generation could face premature hearing damage.

Encouraging all music fans to take care of their hearing, the campaign was supported by Irish singing sensation Julie Feeney and Dr. Mark Hamilton (A&E Dr and former presenter of Radio 1’s The Sunday Surgery) who has personal experience of hearing loss, as he has partial hearing in one ear since childhood.

Simulating what it would be like to lose your hearing, at the high profile launch, Julie Feeney performed behind sound proof glass so music fans could but not hear the performance, unless they used the wireless headphones provided.

To highlight the issue of noise-induced hearing loss, research was conducted on behalf of Hidden Hearing, which revealed the extent to which people are damaging their hearing. The survey found that over 50% of MP3 users are listening to their players at dangerously high levels - above 89 decibels (dB) - for up to two hours a day. Also, 11% of people listening to MP3 players and 35% of people attending concerts say they have experienced ringing in their ears or dull hearing, signalling that damage to their hearing may have begun.

Part of the survey was conducted through on-street, face-to-face surveys. The participants placed their headphones on a ‘head and torso’ mannequin, manufactured by acoustic expert Brüel & Kjær. The mannequin contained an artificial ear and microphone, supplied by noise and vibration specialist, Enfonic, which was connected to a sound decibel meter.

The average sound level was recorded by measuring the LAeq of a 30 second sample of music. Of the MP3 players tested, 40% reached top sound levels of over 100dB; listening at this volume can cause damage to your hearing after just 30 minutes.

Keith Ross, audiologist with Hidden Hearing, said that this latest research shows a very worrying trend among MP3 users: “As a result of years of listening to personal music devices at very loud volumes, we are seeing a huge increase in the number of people sometimes as young as 30 suffering from hearing loss which you might expect a person aged over 70 to have.”

Hidden Hearing’s survey findings support a recent European Commission review, which confirmed that listening to personal music players at high volumes over a sustained period of time can lead to permanent hearing damage. The European Commission said that it could be commonplace in 2010 to see one in ten 30 years old wearing a hearing aid as a result of listening to personal music players too loudly.

Hearing experts recommend the 60/60 Rule to protect your hearing - that’s listen to your MP3 or personal music device through headphones for a maximum of 60 minutes at 60% of the volume.

Warning people of the need to take care of their hearing, Dr. Mark Hamilton said: “Noise-induced hearing loss is generally preventable so it is hugely important that people are aware of the damage they can do to their hearing and take steps to protect it, whether it’s turning the volume down on your MP3 player or protecting their eardrums at gigs. For people who have a hearing loss, ignoring it can be detrimental as they can do further damage from pumping up the volume.”

To find our more information on the campaign and how to protect your hearing, visit hearingawarenessweek.ie.