Your iPod Could Be Killing YOUR Hearing

Did you know that there's no such thing as age-related hearing loss? Our hearing doesn't magically get worse over the years, but rather deteriorates from prolonged exposure to really loud noises. Every time you walk by a working jackhammer, shoot a gun, or go to a booming rock concert you're killing the tiny hair cells within your ears. Those tiny hair cells are responsible for propagating sound waves through the ears, which ultimately creates our sense of hearing. Gradually over time more and more of those hair cells die and you're left with a less than perfect set of ears. The worst part about all of this is that the hair cells don't grow back, so your hearing only gets worse over time. That's a little scary...

The loudness of a sound is quantified by something known as a decibel (dB), which basically measures sound pressure/intensity. The list below shows the dB level of a variety of common sounds:

85 dBs is considered the threshold of what humans can safely listen to without experiencing any sort of hearing damage. What's really interesting is that an iPod blasting at maximum volume can reach dB levels upwards of 120 dBs!! That's ridiculously loud to begin with, but what makes it even worse is that earbuds pump sound directly down your ear canal at a point blank range. All of that bass blasting constantly can have a pretty nasty impact on your hearing in the long run.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) guidelines for sound exposure, listening to an iPod at max volume (120 dBs) is never safe, not even for a few seconds.

If you're like me and love to blast music during an intense workout, it's pretty alarming just how much damage I've been doing to my ears over the years. According to CBC News "a typical person can safely listen to an iPod for 4.6 hours per day at 70 per cent volume using stock earphones." Personally, I'd like to be able to hear 50 years down the road. If not for myself, then for the sake of my spouse, family, friends, or whoever else I'm trying to communicate with. If you listen to your iPod set a volume limit to ~70% of the maximum volume. By doing that you're keeping the max dBs to 84--under the threshold of hearing damage.