Music is a major part of Aiden’s life. While he’s out jogging, he’s listening to Pandora, while working it’s Spotify, and he has a playlist for everything he does: cardio, cooking, gaming, you name it. His headphones are pretty much always on, his life a fully soundtracked affair. But irreversible hearing damage might be happening as a result of the very loud immersive music he loves.
For your ears, there are safe ways to listen to music and hazardous ways to listen to music. But the more hazardous listening choice is frequently the one most of us use.
How does listening to music cause hearing loss?
Over time, loud noises can lead to degeneration of your hearing abilities. We’re used to thinking of hearing loss as an issue related to aging, but more and more research reveals that it’s actually the accumulation of noise-related damage that is the issue here and not anything intrinsic to the aging process.
It also turns out that younger ears are particularly susceptible to noise-induced damage (they’re still developing, after all). And yet, younger adults are more likely to be dismissive of the long-term dangers of high volume. So because of extensive high volume headphone use, there has become an epidemic of hearing loss in young individuals.
Can you enjoy music safely?
Unregulated max volume is obviously the “dangerous” way to listen to music. But simply turning down the volume is a safer way to listen. The general guidelines for safe volumes are:
- For adults: No more than 40 hours of weekly listening on a device and keep the volume below 80dB.
- For teens and young children: 40 hours is still okay but lower 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 quite quickly. Even still, most individuals have a pretty solid idea of keeping track of time, it’s something we’re taught to do efficiently from a really young age.
Keeping track of volume is a little less user-friendly. On most smart devices, computers, and TVs, volume is not measured in decibels. Each device has its own arbitrary scale. It could be 1-100. Or it may be 1-10. You might not have a clue how close to max volume you are or even what max volume on your device is.
How can you listen to music while keeping track of your volume?
It’s not really easy to tell how loud 80 decibels is, but fortunately there are some non-intrusive ways to know how loud the volume is. It’s even harder to determine the difference between 80 and 75dB.
That’s why it’s highly suggested you use one of many free noise monitoring apps. Real-time readouts of the noise around you will be obtainable from both iPhone and Android apps. In this way, you can make real-time adjustments while monitoring your actual dB level. Or, when listening to music, you can also modify your configurations in your smartphone which will automatically let you know that your volume is too high.
The volume of a garbage disposal
Your garbage disposal or dishwasher is typically about 80 decibels. So, it’s loud, but it’s not that loud. It’s an important observation because 80dB is about as much noise as your ears can handle without damage.
So pay close attention and try to stay away from noise above this volume. If you do listen to some music above 80dB, don’t forget to minimize your exposure. Perhaps listen to your favorite song at max volume instead of the whole album.
Over time, loud listening will cause hearing problems. Hearing loss and tinnitus can be the consequence. Your decision making will be more educated the more mindful you are of when you’re going into the danger zone. And safer listening will ideally be part of those decisions.
Still have questions about safe listening? Call us to explore more options.
