If your kids listen to MP3 players, you should be aware that some experts are worrying that in doing so your kids are at risk of damaging their hearing. University of California, Irvine, professor Fan-Gang Zeng, a specialist in hearing loss, says that he’s starting to see a lot of his students with hearing loss that you would normally see in a person 50- or 60-years-old. A colleague, Dr. Hamid Djlilian agrees. He reported that more parents were bringing their teenagers to him with complaints of ringing in their ears.
The cause of the problem, expert believe, centers around the ear buds that sit inside the listeners’ ear. Add to this the fact that you can listen for hours at a time and damage to a child’s hearing is certainly possible. The experts also noted that because the sound is digital, listeners are able to turn up the volume higher without any distortions. The longer your child is exposed to these loud noises they higher the probability of permanent damage.
Unfortunately, by the time your child starts to have pain in their ears the damage has already been done, and experts say this damage is permanent. Further adding to the problem is that the damage will show up years later when your teens are in their 20s and 30s, according to Brian Fligor, of Children’s Hospital in Boston. He recently completed a study on the MP3 player and the use of headphones. He suggested that listeners keep the volume at less than 80% and listen for no more than 90 minutes at a time.
If you are going to allow your kids to use these devices, you must talk to them about the potential danger to their hearing. You should also follow the guidelines Fligor advised and be aware that on some devices you can set volume controls. Ipod, for instance, has a parental volume control on some of their models.
See also:
How To Protect Your Child’s Vision
Could My Child Have A Hearing Impairment?