Researchers fear the growing popularity of portable music players and other items that attach directly to the ears — including cell phones — is contributing to hearing loss in younger people.
“It’s a different level of use than we’ve seen in the past,” says Robert Novak, director of clinical education in audiology at Purdue University. “It’s becoming more of a full-day listening experience, as opposed to just when you’re jogging.”
Increasingly, Novak says he’s seeing too many young people with “older ears on younger bodies” — a trend that’s been building since the portable Walkman made its debut a few decades back.
Everywhere she turns, Angella Day sees people carrying portable music players, often with the ear buds stuffed firmly in place. “They’re very widespread,” says Day, a senior at DePaul University who regularly listens to music on her own iPod while studying or working out. “So addicting.”
To document the trend, Novak and colleagues have been randomly examining students and found a disturbing and growing incidence of what is known as noise-induced hearing loss. Usually, it means they’ve lost the ability to hear higher frequencies, evidenced at times by mild ear-ringing or trouble following conversations in noisy situations.
Hearing specialists say they’re also seeing more people in their 30s and 40s — many of them among the first Walkman users — who suffer from more pronounced tinnitus, an internal ringing or even the sound of whooshing or buzzing in the ears.
“It may be that we’re seeing the tip of the iceberg now,” says Dr. John Oghalai, director of The Hearing Center at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, who’s treating more of this age group. “I would not be surprised if we start to see even more of this.”
Noise-induced hearing loss happens any number of ways, from attending noisy concerts and clubs to using firearms or loud power tools and even recreational vehicles (snowmobiles and some motorcycles are among the offenders).