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• Saturday, February 11, 2012

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Hard Rock: Loud music may be harder on your ears than you think. Keep your player's volume at half to three-quarters its maximum. File photo

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The hazard of concerts, iPods, and other ear-splitting noises

Summer concerts in Tahoe are great occasions to be outdoors, listen to amazing bands, and socialize with friends. They’re also prime opportunities to permanently damage your hearing. I know what you’re thinking:

“I go to lots of concerts, and my hearing is just fine.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Only old people lose hearing.”

“Rock music has to be loud to be appreciated.”

Most people don’t realize, or acknowledge, that loud music — whether on headphones, car stereos, or at concerts — can permanently damage their ears. Rockers and rappers aren’t the only ones affected; people playing or listening to acoustic and symphony music can suffer hearing damage too, as can anyone involved in motor sports or home and yard projects, including lawn mowing, weed-whacking, and using power tools. Even household appliances like blenders and hair driers can damage hearing.

But when was the last time you wore earplugs while making a smoothie? Probably never. And in truth, the damage from such appliances is minimal. But that’s the tricky thing about noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) — it’s gradual, and you can’t tell it’s happening. Unfortunately, much of it is permanent.

Though some NIHL results from sudden, unpredictable “impulse” noises such as thunder, an explosion, or sirens and alarms at close range, most NIHL results from recurring exposure to everyday sounds: your iPod, home theater, garbage disposal, and snowblower.

NIHL affects people of all ages, from infants to seniors. According to the CDC, a rising number of children — almost 13 percent — have some degree of noise-induced hearing loss.

How do you know if a noise is too loud? Simple, if you have to raise your voice to be heard, and can’t comfortably hear someone two feet away from you, if you leave a noisy area and your ears are ringing or buzzing (a condition called tinnitus), or your hearing seems muffled or dull, you’ve probably incurred hearing loss.

How We Hear
Hearing is nothing short of miraculous. Sound waves travel down the ear canal and hit the eardrum, which sends the vibrations to a device in the inner ear called the cochlea. Fluid in the cochlea ripples, causing specialized “hair cells” to produce an electrical signal. The auditory nerve picks up this signal and sends it to the brain, which translates it into a sound we recognize.

When we’re exposed to loud noise, tiny hairs on the hair cells can break or become damaged, no longer able to “pick up” sounds. They never grow back.

Some hair cells are best at detecting low pitches (frequencies), while other cells specialize in higher pitches. The latter are most easily damaged, which explains why high sounds like women’s voices and ringing telephones are among the first to go when people lose hearing.

Measuring the Damage
Sound is measured in decibels (dB), a scale of sound intensity created by Alexander Graham Bell. The “deci” refers to the scale (an increase of 10 represents a 10-fold increase in sound), and the “bel” to Bell himself. To the human ear, every 10-decibel increase sounds twice as loud.

Rustling leaves measure 15 dB, a humming refrigerator is 45 dB, and normal conversation, about 60. At 85 decibels, damage starts to occur.

There are two factors to consider when it comes to noise: how loud, and how long. A motorcycle, for example, measures 100 dB — loud enough to cause damage. But are you riding a dirt bike for a few hours on the weekends, or are you riding your Harley on extended road trips, for eight hours a day?

Some sounds, such as fireworks and gunfire, are so loud that even brief exposure can cause permanent damage.
Rock concerts range from “loud,” at 115 dB, to “peak,” at 150. If you go to a few concerts a year, you’re probably not incurring much hearing loss. But if you go to clubs every weekend, to numerous outdoor concerts (and dance directly in front of the speakers), and if your car stereo is so loud that people in traffic next to you cringe and roll up their windows, you’re undoubtedly damaging your ears.

Luckily, some hearing loss is temporary, returning within 48 hours of exposure to loud noise. But just because your ears stop ringing the day after a concert doesn’t mean that all the damage was temporary. Permanent hearing loss happens in increments, and is cumulative. Most people don’t realize they’ve lost hearing unless they get tested, or until the damage becomes so great that friends and family start to notice.
 
iPods and Earphones
MP3s and iPods are considered safe for any age as long as the volume is kept at half to three-quarters of the players’ maximum volume. (Maximum is about 103 dB when using standard earphones that come with the product.) iPods have a feature that allows parents to limit the volume using a password. It doesn’t matter whether the sound is delivered through earbuds, headphones, or speakers; volume higher than 85 decibels can damage hearing.

If kids’ headphones are so loud that you can hear their music from three feet away, or if they can’t hear you when you speak in a normal voice from the same distance, they’re harming their ears. And parents, if your kids dance with you in front of the speakers at outdoor concerts, please give them earplugs.

Protect Your Ears
Foam-style earplugs are good for motor sports and household power tools, but can distort music by cutting high frequencies. Sonic earplugs are excellent for musicians and die-hard concert fans because they lower volume without affecting frequency.

Over-the-head earmuffs are best for loud, sustained activities such as rifle practice or operating a chain saw. For hunters, electronic earmuffs allow most sounds to penetrate, but “kick in” when a gun is fired.

Promising Research
Researchers believe that antioxidants may protect hair cells from excessive damage, both before and after exposure. Though research is still preliminary, one study found that guinea pigs suffered less hearing loss when given antioxidants up to three days after exposure to loud noise.

So when you pack that picnic for the next concert in the park, go ahead and fill it with plenty of antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies. And, of course, toss in a few sets of earplugs.