FileThis WSU Newsline Podcast is available at
See the transcript below:
You鈥檙e listening to the podcast edition of the 成人头条 audio newsline. Learn more about WSU 鈥� the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers 鈥� on the Web at .
A recent national study reported that nearly one in five teens have lost some of their hearing, and the problem has increased substantially in the past decade. Teenagers aren鈥檛 necessarily tuning out adults; perhaps they simply can鈥檛 hear them.
The results of the study come as little surprise to 成人头条 audiologist Ray Hull.
Hull: 鈥淚 really wasn鈥檛 surprised when I read the information that there has been about a 70 percent increase in hearing loss among teenagers. We live in a very noisy world.鈥�
Experts have a variety of ways in which teenagers can protect their hearing, but it鈥檚 not clear whether the teens are listening.
Hull: 鈥淥f course, playing any personal stereo, particularly with the insert-type bud earphones, can cause damage if it鈥檚 being played at too high of an intensity. If it鈥檚 rattling against the side of the person鈥檚 head, then you know that it鈥檚 probably at about 105 decibels, at which time they can listen for about 15 minutes before permanent damage to their hearing.鈥�
According to Hull and other experts, even a slight hearing loss can cause problems in school and set the stage for hearing aids later in life.
Hull: 鈥淲e know that about 75 percent of teenagers have at least some degree of hearing loss. Even a mild hearing loss can be damaging in terms of their ability to hear in a classroom, for example.鈥�
There are at least two ways teens can reduce the chance of hearing loss, as Hull explains.
Hull: 鈥淭here are two important ways that teens can monitor their own hearing and therefore reduce the chance of hearing loss.
One is to limit the amount of time that they listen to their personal stereo to about 30 minutes. The other is to turn them down so that the person sitting next to them cannot hear what is being played through their system.鈥�
Hull explains why teens aren鈥檛 getting the message on the dangers of hearing loss.
Hull: 鈥淭he problem is we can鈥檛 see the damage that鈥檚 taking place within the inner ear, the damage to the little nerve receptors. Therefore, the loss of hearing may be occurring, but yet we don鈥檛 realize it until it鈥檚 too late.鈥�
At the very least, Hull says teens need to become more aware of what can cause hearing loss.
Hull: 鈥淧laying music that is too loud is one of many ways that our hearing can become damaged. Others include riding in a convertible, mowing the lawn without appropriate hearing protection, riding in a car with the windows down, and just so many. They鈥檙e all cumulative and can result in permanent damage to our hearing.鈥�
In the study, researchers analyzed data on 12- to 19-year-olds from a nationwide health survey. They compared hearing loss in nearly 3,000 kids tested from 1988-94 to nearly 1,800 kids tested over 2005-06. That means about 6.5 million have at least a slight hearing loss.
Loud music isn鈥檛 new, of course. Each new generation of teenagers has found a new technology to blast music from bulky headphones in the 1960s to the Walkmans of the 1980s. But today鈥檚 young people are listening longer, more than twice as long as previous generations, according to an audiologist at Children鈥檚 Hospital Boston.
Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for 成人头条.