We've all heard it– a car pulls up next to you with the radio
turned up so loud that the ground vibrates. Sometimes it might just be driving
by causing only a momentary disruption. Other times, one is forced to endure
a few minutes of window shaking noise until the stop light turns green. Then
the pounding noise drives off to pollute someone else's environment.
Teens reading this article might say we should "get a life" and let
them enjoy their music. Yet as citizens, we worry that these youngsters can
not possibly concentrate on their driving because of the loud music, much
less hear the sirens of emergency vehicles. As parents and grandparents,
we are also troubled by the fact that these teens show no respect for another
person's space - after all, the air on which it travels belongs to all of
us. And third, as health care providers, we are concerned about what these
teens are doing to their hearing.
One of 23.3 million Americans has a hearing loss and about 1.3 million
of them are 18 or younger. Evidence strongly suggests more young people are
losing their hearing today than ever before and one-third of all hearing
loss cases stem from the loud noises of rock music, car radios and stereo
headsets.
How does this happen? When we hear, sound waves are funneled down
the ear canal causing the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then passed
through the three bones of the middle ear and transmitted to the inner ear,
which is made up of tiny hair cells. The ripples that pass through the hair
cells from the sound vibration trigger electrical impulses, which travel
along the auditory nerve - the hearing nerve - to the brain. The brain then
translates these electrical signals into sound. Repeated exposure to loud
noises over time causes the hair cells to become bruised, get tangled up,
or slip from their roots, destroying their ability to send electrical impulses
to the brain. The hairs are especially susceptible to the bass frequencies
of modern music and modern music players - today's younger listeners prefer
the music turned up high and on full bass (low frequencies) so they can hear
"the beat."
The result is a kind of deafness called "sensorineural hearing loss."
This affects both volume and clarity, first at high pitches, then later at
lower pitches where speech is heard. Music will sound like you are listening
to it on the telephone and soon hearing normal speech will become difficult.
Have you ever walked away from a loud concert and everything sounds
as if you're under water? Or you feel a fullness or buzzing in your ears?
That's called a "temporary threshold shift." Although it goes away, it's
a signal that you've damaged some hair cells in your inner ear. Those cells
will probably heal, but additional damage may permanently destroy them. Initial
hearing loss may go unnoticed until there is a loss in the middle frequencies
where we distinguish speech. "We know that the average 70-year old will have
some hearing impairment from aging," commented St. Petersburg ear, nose,
and throat specialist Alan Gall, M.D., "but for young people exposed to loud
noises, the aging process is speeded up."
Hearing loss is a very gradual process and many of its symptoms are
subtle. Some of the most common symptoms are:
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Difficulty understanding at public gatherings.
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Your hearing frustrates you when you converse with family or friends.
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Straining to hear the TV, radio or telephone.
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Asking others to repeat themselves.
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Your social life is hindered.
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Smiling more and understanding less.
The ear is not the only part of the body to respond to loud noise.
The whole body "shifts gears" and too much noise can affect a young person's
health in other ways too. These include cardiovascular problems with an
accelerated heartbeat and high blood pressure, gastric-intestinal problems,
a decrease in alertness, nervousness, pupil dilation and a decrease in the
visual field. While these are usually temporary, they can negatively influence
a teen's ability to concentrate on his/her driving.
Second hand noise, like second hand smoke, has a negative impact on
others as well. Remember, the air on which second-hand noise is transmitted
is owned by all of us. It belongs to no one person or group. Teens therefore
can show a high degree of maturity when they limit their tunes to themselves
without intruding on the neighbors's air. Young adults who disregard the
rights of others and create noise pollution are acting much like a bully
in a school.
So, how can parents tell if their kid's music is too loud? If you have
to raise your voice to be heard above background noise while standing 3 feet
from someone, the noise level is probably hazardous to your hearing. So encourage
your youngsters to turn down that car stereo, reduce the volume on those
ear phones and decrease the sound on that home amplifier.
Music played at excessive volume may be no more than a sign of rebellious,
youthful mischief -- a little of which never caused anyone much harm. However,
sound played at such extreme levels noise can destroy an adolescent's hearing,
adversely affect their health, place them in danger while operating an
automobile and cause them to be viewed as a nuisance to those around them.
So, to any teens reading this article our message is: Do yourself, and everyone
around you, a big favor -- turn it down a notch today and you will still
be able to enjoy that music tomorrow.
Click here to find out if you already have a hearing loss.
