Paras Hemrajani
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Written By: Paras Hemrajani | Updated : March 2, 2021 4:41 PM IST
Teens now a days are glued to their headphones, a bad habit that the World Health Organisation (WHO) says may cause hearing loss in the future. The first-ever World Report on Hearing has also warned that over a billion adolescents and young adults are at risk of irreversible hearing loss due to common practices like listening to music at loud volumes and for prolonged time. Currently, more than 430 million people worldwide are living with disabling hearing loss, and this number that could grow to nearly 700 million by 2050, added the report that would be launched tomorrow on the occasion of the World Hearing Day 2021. This is happening despite the fact that many causes of hearing loss are preventable.
WHO had earlier warned young people to limit their headphones use to only 1 hour to avoid the risk of going deaf in the future. According to the WHO, excessive use of headphones, love for concerts and clubbing, all of which produce a high level of noise can put teens at risk of hearing loss. People between the age of 12 to 35 are the ones who are exposed to be at risk the most. According to the premier organisation, the cases of loss of hearing ability has increased in the past decade due to the use of music player, headphone and phones.
Protecting your ears against loud sounds, following good ear care practices and immunization can help prevent hearing loss and related ear diseases, the organisation added.
When sound waves reach your ear, they cause a vibration in the eardrum. These vibrations are transmitted to the cochlea. Cochlea is a fluid-filled chamber in the ear that contains thousands of small hairs. Intensity of sound vibrates the hair in the chamber. The stronger the intensity, the larger would be the vibration in the hair. Strong vibration caused by loud music lead to lose of sensitivity in these hair cells. This is what causes temporary hearing loss after hearing an explosion. In case of temporary hearing loss, the hair cells recover. But if the hair cells are damaged too much, they might never recover. This is what causes permanent hearing loss. There is no cure for repairing the damage to the inner ear.
Apart from limiting the use of headphone to just one hour in the whole day, the organisation also recommends that the volume of music should not be more than 60 decibels. This is the typical intensity of sound in a conversation between two people. If this intensity increases 85 decibels, it is equal to a bulldozer. And, 120 decibels can damage the hearing in just nine seconds. Air pods used by iPhone users can generate a noise level of up to 112db at full volume.
According to many audiologists and hearing experts, over the ear headphone are much safer than in-ear headphones. This is because of the distance between the speakers and the ear in over-the-ear-headphones. Extra distance reduces the loudness and impact of the sound wave. Another way of reducing noise is by using noise canceling headphones, they reduce the noise level by eliminating external sound. Even if you are going to a concert, you can protect your eardrum by using cotton and earmuffs. Hearing damage can affect your education, employment and daily life.
