Music is a major part of Aiden’s life. He listens to Spotify while at work, switches to Pandora when jogging, and he has a playlist for everything: gaming, cooking, gym time, and everything else. Everything in his life has a soundtrack and it’s playing on his headphones. But irreversible hearing damage may be happening due to the very loud immersive music he enjoys.
There are ways to listen to music that are safe for your ears and ways that aren’t so safe. But the more hazardous listening choice is often the one most of us choose.
How does listening to music lead to hearing loss?
Your ability to hear can be compromised over time by exposure to loud noise. We’re used to thinking of hearing loss as an issue associated with aging, but more and more research indicates that it’s really the accumulation of noise-related damage that is the problem here and not anything intrinsic to the process of aging.
Younger ears which are still developing are, as it turns out, more susceptible to noise-related damage. And yet, the long-term damage from high volume is more likely to be dismissed by younger adults. So there’s an epidemic of younger people with hearing loss thanks, in part, to high volume headphone use.
Is there a safe way to enjoy music?
It’s obviously dangerous to enjoy music at max volume. But there is a safer way to enjoy your tunes, and it usually involves turning down the volume. The general recommendations for safe volumes are:
- For adults: Keep the volume at less than 80dB and for no more than 40 hours per week..
- For teens and young children: 40 hours is still fine but reduce the volume to 75dB.
About five hours and forty minutes a day will be about forty hours every week. Though that may seem like a while, it can feel like it passes rather quickly. But we’re conditioned to monitor time our entire lives so most of us are pretty good at it.
The harder part is keeping track of your volume. On most smart devices, computers, and televisions, volume is not calculated in decibels. It’s calculated on some arbitrary scale. It could be 1-100. Or it could be 1-10. You may not have any idea what the max volume on your device is, or how close to the max you are.
How can you monitor the volume of your tunes?
There are some non-intrusive, simple ways to figure out just how loud the volume on your music actually is, because it’s not very easy for us to contemplate exactly what 80dB sounds like. Distinguishing 75 from, let’s say, 80 decibels is even more puzzling.
So using one of the numerous noise free monitoring apps is highly suggested. Real-time readouts of the noise around you will be available from both iPhone and Android apps. That way you can monitor the dB level of your music in real-time and make alterations. Your smartphone will, with the proper settings, inform you when the volume gets too loud.
As loud as a garbage disposal
Generally, 80 dB is about as noisy as your garbage disposal or your dishwasher. That’s not too loud. It’s a relevant observation because 80dB is about as loud as your ears can take without damage.
So pay close attention and try to avoid noise above this volume. And minimize your exposure if you do listen to music over 80dB. Maybe limit loud listening to a song rather than an album.
Listening to music at a loud volume can and will cause you to develop hearing problems over the long term. You can develop tinnitus and hearing loss. Your decision making will be more educated the more aware you are of when you’re entering the danger zone. And ideally, those decisions lean towards safer listening.
Contact us if you still have questions about keeping your ears safe.