The negative side of mp3 player earbuds

Apple CEO Steve Jobs listening with his Apple iPod earbuds.

Many people use earbuds to hear music from their personal audio devices in the modern day. They can give the sense of drowning out the chaos outside of yourself, but not all positives come from this. According to tests and studies, most people listen with earbuds at too high of a volume. An article that was recently placed in the NY Times was titled, "Study Warns of Hearing Loss From Music Players". This information originated from Brussels. This shows that this is a worldwide problem. The following is an interesting excerpt from the article:

It also threatens permanent hearing loss for as many as 10 million Europeans who use them, according to a scientific study for the European Union that will be published Monday.

The report said that those who listened for five hours a week at high-volume settings exposed themselves to more noise than permitted in the noisiest factory or work place. Maximum volume on some devices can generate as much noise as an airplane taking off nearby.

This entire article from the NY Times may be viewed HERE.

For many, including myself, this is shocking and disturbing information. I am now going to be much more aware of volume controls on my earbuds. Since I want to be a classical musician, the last thing that I want to go for me is good hearing!!

Another disturbing bit of information regards the generation that I am in. So many young people have grown up with, and listen to portable music players all the time. This means there will be high occurrences of hearing loss when these people get older. Unfortunately, the loss is gradual and can be most noticeable years after it has happened.

According to John Pavlik in his book Digital in the Media Age, he states, "More than half of teenagers surveyed report at least one symptom of hearing loss. Most parents are unwilling to put limits on the amount of time their children use earbud devices. Adults tend to use earbuds for longer periods of time, but teens tend to turn up the volume higher.

As a rule of thumb, if a person standing near another person listening via an earbud can hear sound from the earbud, then the volume is too loud and can cause hearing loss, either temporary or permanent."

This is very wise information to keep in mind. These earbuds are not only used in mp3 players. People regularly use them for laptops, portable DVD players, cell phones, and other devices. The modern society must become more aware of this news about earbuds (aka- in the ear headphones). If not, we will be suffering from much widespread hearing loss throughout the world in the years to come. Young people who are going into the medical field may want to think about being an "ear doctor". There will most likely be plenty of work to do in the future.

Below: WE DON'T WANT THIS.