Decibel Damage

(From The Hartford Courant/The Chicago Tribune -- By Julie Deardorff)

The generation that mocked their elders with "If it's too loud, you're too old," is singing a different tune. Only they can hardly hear themselves.

NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS is escalating in the United States, and not just among senior citizens. 18% of BABY BOOMERS have hearing loss -- meanwhile, 7.4% of GENERATIONS X'ERS have damaged ears, according to the Virginia-based BETTER HEARING INSTITUTE.

Overall, most of those who say "What?" so often that there's clearly a problem (65%) are below retirement age.

EXCESSIVE NOISE is the leading culprit, and audiologists suspect that the problem is fueled by the proliferation of devices with amplified sound, namely CELL PHONES and
MP3 PLAYERS, such as IPODS, which send noise directly into the delicate ear canal.

"We're starting to see hearing loss in young adults that we expect to diagnose in middle-age adults," says ROBERT NOVAK, Director of Clinical Education in Audiology at PURDUE UNIVERSITY.

Decibel Damage

[As an audiologist once told me, try to always listen to music in an environmental setting via speakers and NOT through headphones. Headphone-use for hours on end provides a direct and concentrated pounding on your ears. That's usually the main cause behind noise-induced hearing loss.]