Hearing loss among teens on the rise: AMA study
Posted August 18, 2010 9:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found one in five people under the age of 20 has already damaged their hearing because the volume is up too high on their iPods and MP3 players.
The study found that hearing loss among 12 to 19 year olds has increased 30 per cent in the last 15 years.
Most of the blame has been directed at the earbud headphones.
The experts said it’s because the earbud headphones sit so close to the eardrum and teens just don’t realize the damage they’re doing by cranking the volume.
A Canadian study from 2000 found similar results. One expert told the Globe and Mail the damage can be hard to detect early on, but the decibel levels need to be decreased.
