Teen Health Teen Health Basics

MP3 Players and Hearing Loss

Summary & Participants

MP3 players are changing the way people listen to music, and they may permanently change your ability to hear.

Medically Reviewed On: August 01, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: MP3 players are changing the way people listen to music, and they may permanently change your ability to hear.

MP3 USER: It’s got to be loud. You’ve got to feel it!

MP3 USER: Not obnoxiously loud, but you gotta drown out the cars and stuff.

ANNOUNCER: They allow you to turn any place into your own personal concert hall where the music can be as loud as you want.

MP3 USER: I like to be in my own space, and the way I create that personal space is by turning up the volume.

ANNOUNCER: With good sound quality, portability and digital storage, there are no limts to how long you listen. And that’s got hearing experts like doctor Robin Dyleski worried.

ROBIN A. DYLESKI, MD, OTOLARYNGOLOGIST: Loud sounds over a long enough period of time will cause damage to the hair cells.

ANNOUNCER: It’s those hair cells in the cochlea that help transmit sound to the brain. Once they are damaged, hearing loss can be permanent, though you may not notice a problem until years later.

MP3 USER: I’ve heard it’s bad if you listen to it past the 3/4 mark, you’ll blow out your ears, so on my iPod, I try to listen at the halfway or 2/3 mark.

ANNOUNCER: Dr. Dyleski says there are other ways to make sure your hearing is protected. First, turn down the volume if you can’t hear noise around you or if people near you can hear your music. She also suggests limiting your listening time to two hours a day.

Thanks for joining us on today’s OnceDaily!