Young People Might Go Deaf By Using Headphones

Living in big cities has its benefits but it also comes hand in hand with several health risks, including respiratory problems and hearing issues. Worse, WHO has recently warned that self-inflicted noise pollution might lead to deaf in younger generations.

Their report suggested that people of age 12 to 35 are faced with the risk of losing their ability to hear on a daily basis and this number is as big as 1.1 billion.

Headphones are one of the causes of hearing loss

Typical human ears can stand up to 85 dB during the course of 8 hours while for 15 minutes, the figure is 100 dB. If the noise exceeds these levels, hearers may experience pain and the inside of their ears is likely to be damaged. When people converse, the sound they make is at around 60 dB.

The report revealed that about half of the number of the young takes in noise that may cause danger to their hearing by the use of personal devices while 40% are at risk by the effect of going to concerts, bars, or clubs.

Other sources of loud noise include motorcycles, which can create sounds of more than 95 dB and cause damage when the exposure time exceeds 2.5 hours. Another common item that has the potential to harm your ears is the hairdryer. The noise it generates is 100 dB and the maximum time before it starts damaging is 15 minutes.

Noise at concerts can cause damage to your ears too

Your headphones can make noises at 105 dB, which you should not put your ears through for more than 4 minutes. Music at bars and the like can cause even more damage as it can peak at 110 dB, which your hearing should only withstand for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Another potential harm comes from the 150 dB noise that firecrackers make, which no one should ever come near.

According to Dr. Etienne Krug, one of WHO’s directors, the daily amusement can cost young adults their hearing ability and when it happens, there was no way to reverse it. What people could do is to take precaution to protect themselves.