It was bound to happen – doctors are seeing a dramatic increase in the hearing loss of teens. A primary reason is the increased use of devises such as iPods and other MP3 players. An article appears today in the Wall Street Journal reporting on doctors’ new concerns. A new understanding of what is going on that makes this round of concern different from the concern expressed during the early ’80’s over Sony’s Walkman headsets is that the new “earbuds” feed the sound directly into the ear (direct feed) and does not block outside noise. Go buy a sound-minimizing headset (sound-isolating or sound-canceling earphones).
What I thought interesting is that the hearing loss is associated as much with the duration of listening than the volume of the music.