Don’t think you’re hurting your ears when listening to music? Think again!
Most music players such as iPods easily produce up to 120 decibels (dB) of sound – this is equivalent to that of a rock concert! What’s worse is that many individuals listen to music at harmful noise levels of 85 dB or more. Exposure to such noise levels for extended periods of time causes what is called noise induced hearing loss.
Be kind to your ears!
It can be tempting to turn up the volume on your iPod, especially in an effort to drown out the noise around you. When choosing how loudly to play your music, consider that the noise level of normal conversation is 60 dB. The noise level at which many people listen to their music is louder than that of a garbage disposal (88 dB) and a blow dryer (85 dB). But most people don’t realize that listening to music at such high levels for extended periods of time can be detrimental to their hearing in the long run! In order to protect your hearing from deteriorating, do not expose your ears to music that is louder than 85 dB for longer than an hour or two.