Should Teens Protect Ears at Concerts to Prevent Hearing Loss?

Looks like teens are more worried about what their peers think of them at concerts than the hassles of hearing loss later in life, according to at least one study, and also according to what just seems to be.

The House Research Institute did a study on the effects of a live concert on teens’ hearing. The 29 teens were given free concert tickets to seats close to the stage. The researchers explained the importance of hearing protection to the teenagers and encouraged them to use the ear plugs that were provided.

Get this: Only three of the teens used them! Why do you think this is? Could it be they didn’t want to be seen with ear plugs? Or maybe it’s because they thought ear plugs were for sissies? What a shame teens think this way.

However, adults think this way, too. How many motorcycle riders wear hearing protection? I used to work at a major newspaper facility and occasionally had to go into the printing pressroom – which was thunderously loud. Most of the employees had NO hearing protection! (I wore ear muffs).

Three researchers accompanied the teens to the three-hour concert and measured the volume. The volume exceeded that which is permitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the workplace! The researchers found that the concert volume exceeded OSHA’s acceptable workplace standards within the first 30 minutes.

Seventy-two percent of the teens had impaired hearing following the concert. This hearing loss was believed to be temporary, a phenomenon called temporary threshold shift, which usually disappears within 48 hours.

Teenagers need to understand a single exposure to loud noise either from a concert or personal listening device can lead to hearing loss,” explains M. Jennifer Derebery, MD, lead study author, physician at the House Clinic. With multiple exposures to noise over 85 decibels,” she continues, “the tiny hair cells may stop functioning and the hearing loss may be permanent.

Why don’t teens (and adults) get this simple fact? I got it when I was only 11 – and nobody sat down and had to lecture me, either. Today, I can hear far better than my siblings can. One was recently diagnosed with moderate hearing loss in both ears. For 17 years she’s run a very loud household and has never used ear plugs in loud environments.

After the concert, over half the teens reported they weren’t hearing well. One-quarter reported ringing in the ears. The United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005-2006) reports that 20 percent of American adolescents have at least slight hearing loss.

Noise-induced hearing loss is a leading cause of hearing loss, says WebMD.com and the site for American Family Physician, and it’s “virtually 100 percent preventable” says the AFP site.

Now … if only teens (and adults) would stop worrying about what others think, and just wear the ear plugs and ear muffs. What someone thinks of me pales in comparison to the health of my ears. I wouldn’t be caught dead ranking someone’s opinion of me above my hearing health.

Sources:

sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120521151739.htm

osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=standards&p;_id=9735

webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/hearing-loss-cause

aafp.org/afp/2000/0501/p2749.html