Saturday, July 22, 2006

MP3 Players Cause Hearing Problems.

If you like listening to mp3 players, or you have kids who do, MoneyControl.Com has a bad news for you. And it's not about money, it's about hearing.

"A survey carried out in the UK has shown that today’s youth are at a risk of going deaf up to 30 years earlier than their parents because they are listening to MP3 players too loudly and too often.

The survey found that 14% of people spend up to 28 hours a week listening to their personal music player. More than a third of people who have experienced ringing in their ears after listening to loud music, listen to their MP3 player every day. Ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, is a sign of damage to their hearing.

Vivienne Michael, Chief Executive of Deafness Research UK, says, “Many young people are regularly using MP3 players for long periods of time and are frighteningly unaware of the fact that loud noise can permanently damage your hearing. Hearing loss can make life unbearable. It cuts people off from their family and friends and makes everyday communication extremely difficult.”

The survey also found that 38% of 16-34 year olds are not aware that listening to loud music on a personal music player, going to loud bars/nightclubs/concert, playing loud music in the car or working with machinery, can damage their hearing. 28% of 16-34 year olds visit noisy bars, pubs or nightclubs once or twice a week and 82% of people who have experienced tinnitus after listening to loud music go to nightclubs - of these, a quarter go once a week or more."