Comments on: Is it true that you can suffer from hearing loss from your iPod? How?

By: Ed H

Ed H — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:04:12 +0000

Portable music players can be very dangerous. Dr. Scott Sims stated: “A study in 1998 revealed an epidemic of noise induced hearing loss affecting our children. At that time, over 12.5% of children ages 6 to 19 were found to have noise induced hearing loss. (Niskar, A.S., et. al. (1998, April 8). Prevalence of hearing loss among children 6 to 19 years of age: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. JAMA, 279(14): 1071-1075). This study was performed prior to the now widespread use of devices like the IPOD. Due to the power and the length of time that children are exposed to potentially toxic levels of sound from this type of device, it is reasonable to fear that a much larger percentage of children have permanent, irreversible damage to their hearing. For decades we have warned our youth of the dangers of noise exposure, but IPODs and MP3 players are the most significant threat to children’s hearing that we have ever seen. As we have seen in science before: wonderful technology sometimes carries inherent dangers if not handled correctly.

IPOD Safety tips: From the research I have seen the volume should be kept below 60% and it is best to replace the “ear-bud” style headphones with a more circumaural style of headphone that blocks out other sound. Limit your exposure to under 15 minutes at a time.

For parents: If you can hear the music your child is listening to from a distance of 3 feet, they may be damaging their hearing.”

Hope this helps. I think these music players can be neat, but please be safe! Cheers.

By: Hearing Professional

Hearing Professional — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:04:49 +0000

Okay the deal with ipods is that the further in your ear the earphones are the louder the sound hits your eardrum. So the ipod has brought this issue out as they are commonly used with the small earbuds. It is fine to use the small earbuds if you are not blasting the volume on the music.

OSHA standards for noise exposure for workers in a factory are that the worker can be exposed to an 85 dB sound for 8 hours. So if the sound is louder they need to wear ear protection. The formula continues and you can safely listen to a 90 dB sound four 4 hours, a 95 dB sound for 2 hours etc. Some examples of how loud things are.
Average conversational speech is 60 dB
a dog barking is about 75 dB
a piano is about 80 dB
a helicoptor is about 95 dB
a Lawnmower is about 100 dB

So the moral of the story is. Don’t let all the talk prevent you from enjoying your music. Be sensible don’t use the volume all the way up. Don’t listen all day long at loud volumes. Short use should be okay. Better safe than sorry so you should always wear ear protection when around a lot of noise when using power tools and mowing the lawn.

By: TARDIS_Junkie

TARDIS_Junkie — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:39:01 +0000

You can suffer from hearing loss from any portable personal listening device. iPod earbuds are intended to sit just inside the ear canal. People tend to listen to their music /loud/. Loud sounds directly impact tiny little hairs (cilia) inside your ears. Think of them like blades of grass; a big blast of wind will flatten them. Once “flattened” (damaged, really), they tend not to come back. Over time, this leads to hearing loss as fewer and fewer of the cilia–the tiny little hairs–are converting sound waves into the electrical signals interpreted by the brain.

The best way around this would be, of course, to not use your iPod. (Much like remaining celibate prevents STDs.) Barring that, don’t use the earbuds–use some other form of headphone that does not rest inside the ear canal. Also, keep the volume turned down (yes, I know, AC/DC is best /loud/, but work with me here) and try to limit the amount of time each day you spend listening to it.

By the way, it’s not just iPod earbuds. Any loud sounds–like construction equipment, loud music in your car, concerts, noisy bars, etc–are bad for your ears. Treat ‘em with care; they’re the only set you’ve got.

By: Jessica W

Jessica W — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:55:45 +0000

it all depends on how loud you are listening to it.
if it is extremely aloud to where you cant hear someone next to you then it is wayy to loud….which can cause hear loss.

to work around it is TURN IT DOWNlol

By: neon_retro_love <3

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:24:17 +0000

If you listen to your ipod too loud it can damage your ear drum and cause loss of hearing.

By: Dude D

Dude D — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:57:37 +0000

Yes, only if you listen to it way too much or it’s a bit too loud. There are probably special headphones out there that can prevent it, but you could just turn down the volume! Piece of cake!! HAVE FUN!!!

By: splishsplashh

splishsplashh — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 03:31:38 +0000

if your music is too loud it can hurt your eardrums.
thus causing hearing loss.

it can be prevented by keeping that volume dial loowwww.