Didn’t read the fine print in the instructions that came with your iPod? Apple warns clearly that turning up the volume too long for sustained periods can wreck your hearing. Apple’s even released a software download that modulates volume automatically. Experts also recommend limiting listening hours and using sound-isolating earphones.

Jason Buhrmester wrote about hearing loss from MP3 players and other factors in our January/February issue.

Rocking on without going deaf
Satisfaction Magazine
January/February 2006

It’s only rock ‘n’ roll and we’ve always liked it really loud. Ears that have been assaulted on a regular basis for years are now in trouble.

“Hearing loss occurs in your 50s and 60s. We’re in that age group now and the demographic needs help,” says Sig Soli, head of the Depart-ment of Human Communication Sciences and Devices at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles. Years of loud concerts, the proliferation of iPods and other earphone-based digital music players are to blame. “It’s never been easier to produce high-level sound directly into your ear,” says Soli.

Michael Santucci, an audiologist and president of Sensaphonics Hearing Conservation in Chicago, manufacturer of in-ear monitors for musicians including Dave Matthews, Toby Keith and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, worries that listeners are adding to the risk by pumping up the volume in headphones to drown out external noise. In fact, a concert—even a loud one every once in awhile—poses less risk than daily iPod use.

“If the environment is loud, you need a device that is louder,” says Santucci. “The headphones with an iPod don’t offer much noise reduction, so listeners have to run the volume up louder.”

Researchers have determined that it’s duration, not volume alone, that produces the biggest risk of hearing loss. The basic rule established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other safety organizations: The human ear can tolerate 16 hours of exposure at 85 decibels (dBs)—roughly a sound loud enough that you have to shout to be heard over it. For every three to five decibels over that level, listeners should cut the exposure time in half. So, a 100-dB concert is safe for about two hours, unless you’re wearing foam earplugs. After that, your ears need to rest and recuperate. How loud is 100 dBs? Think subway, diesel-powered truck or jackhammer.

“A loud sound for a minute won’t do anything, but a loud sound for five hours will,” says Santucci. “You need to think of hearing protection like sunscreen: If you’re going to be in the sun for five minutes, you’re fine. If you’re outside for five hours, you need protection.”

To save your hearing, lower the volume on your iPod. “If you listen to an iPod at a level where you can’t hear the people around you talking, you’re listening too loud,” says Soli.

Santucci suggests using “isolating” earphones to help filter out outside noise and enable you to lower the volume level on your iPod. “If you work out every day for an hour to loud music, your heart is healthy but your hearing is shot,” Santucci says. “If you use isolating headphones to drown out the external sound, you can listen softer.”

Experts also recommend using foam earplugs. “If you’re in a situation where you have to shout to communicate, you should be using earplugs,” advises Soli. Studies show that earplugs can reduce the sound reaching your ear by 20 to 30 dB, cutting that 100-dB concert down to a safe 80 db.

“We want to tell people that loud is fun,” adds Santucci. “It’s a natural rush. Just be responsible.”

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