Hearing loss among young people is a “real problem” and it is only going to get worse in the coming years, according to a Beacon Hospital Audiologist.

It comes after a new study found that over one billion people around the world are at risk of hearing loss from listening to loud music.

The journal BMJ Global Health study is urging young people to be more aware of their listening habits – and headphone manufacturers to take responsibility for their products.

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Beacon Audiologist Dr Sandra Cummings said she was “not at all surprised” at the findings.

“From time to time, we do see young people who, particularly, listen to a lot of loud music and we are starting to see the signs of early noise-induced hearing loss in this population,” she said.

“The issue is that young people are not aware that noise-induced hearing loss is permanent. It cannot be reversed.

“So, we certainly want a public campaign to make young people aware of this because it is becoming a real problem and in ten or 20 years’ time, it is going to be a bigger issue.”

“Intensity/time trade-off”

Dr Cummins noted that over-ear headphones are far safer than the in-ear pods many young people use today and said there is an “intensity/time trade-off” when it comes to being in loud environments.

In the workplace, you are allowed to be exposed to 85 decibels for eight hours a day, 40 hours a week; however, as soon as the noise gets any louder, the time you can safely remain is slashed.

For example, it is unsafe to be exposed to 92 decibels for longer than 38 minutes.

"It can never be restored"

She said you will permanently damage your hearing if you break these rules too often.

“What happens is, we’ve all been to a rock concert, you come out of it, your ears are buzzing and you feel like there’s cotton wool in your ears,” she said.

“Those hair cells [in your ears] respond to sound. So, they vibrate and in normal speech - in normal conversation - they are vibrating at a certain level. If you go to a loud place, those hair cells are vibrating significantly more than in normal situations, so they become exhausted.

“They can only take so much and eventually they lie down flat - that is when you leave the rock concert - and 24 to 48 hours later they start to stand up again and can function normally.

“If you do that too many times, they will never, never come up to their normal resting state. They will always lie flat just like a person exhausted.

“That is when hearing loss takes place and it can never be restored. They’re busy with stem cell research but this is way down the line.”

Hearing loss

She warned young people that there is hearing is already deteriorating as they get older.

“If you have noise exposure on top of that, it is just going to make you need a hearing aid earlier than you might well have needed it,” she said.

The BMJ study examined data relating to 19,000 people over two decades.

It found that 24% had unsafe listening practices and 48% were being exposed to unsafe noise levels at entertainment venues.

The study estimates that between 670,000 and 1.35 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss.

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