For most of us, the idea that we might lose our hearing seems remote. After all, isn’t it just something that happens when we get older?

It turns out that younger people are suffering from hearing loss, and not for the reasons you might expect. Hearing loss in the modern world has much more to do with our “sound environment” and a lot less to do with the natural aging process. It is good to know that medicine can offer a lot of options to treat different hearing conditions. Visit https://tinnitusaz.com/scottsdale.html for more info.

Part of the problem seems to be our addiction to music. Music is everywhere in the modern world, and we carry around a library of the stuff in our pockets everywhere we go. It’s just so easy to put earbuds in our ears and start listening to something we love, blocking out the ugly noises of our everyday world.

But listening to music could be dangerous. It could be having a deleterious effect on the machinery of your ears, and it could lead to hearing loss, something you can learn more about online.

Earphones Damage Ears

Okay, so what’s going on? How can listening to music damage you? Researchers now believe that listening to earphones is bad for you because doing so can damage the hair cells that line the ear canal and inner ear. When sounds are too loud, too much energy gets transmitted through the eardrum, disturbing these fine structures and causing damage.

Earphones seem innocuous because they’re small. But they are dangerous because of how close they get to the eardrum. People often listen to music in excess of 95 decibels – loud enough to cause damage to the inner ear. But the problem isn’t so much the volume itself, but the length of time people are exposed to it. You would never listen to a person shouting for two hours, but you might easily spend two hours listening to loud music while working or doing exercise. It’s both the volume and the length of exposure to loud sounds that make a difference.

So What Should You Do?

Researchers say that the best way to avoid potential loss of hearing is to obey the 60/60 rule. You can still listen to all your favorite music but do so at 60 percent of the maximum volume for less than 60 minutes.

You can also reduce the temptation to listen to music at high volume by using noise-canceling headphones instead of earphones. By blocking out external noises, you’ll be better able to hear the music you’re listening to and won’t have to turn the volume up.

Your love of music could damage your ears in other ways, of course. Going to loud concerts, for instance, could be a problem. Standing near speakers for a couple of hours could lead to ringing in your ears which could last longer than a day or two. It’s best to take precautions, like wearing earplugs and not standing directly next to loudspeakers. If you go to loud clubs and bars regularly, it’s worth thinking about taking precautions to protect your ears from damage.