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You’re listening to the podcast edition of the Wichita State University audio newsline. Learn more about WSU — the home of Thinkers, Doers, Movers and Shockers — on the Web at wichita.edu.

A recent national study reported that nearly one in five teens have lost some of their hearing, and the problem has increased substantially in the past decade. Teenagers aren’t necessarily tuning out adults; perhaps they simply can’t hear them.

The results of the study come as little surprise to Wichita State University audiologist Ray Hull.

Hull: “I really wasn’t surprised when I read the information that there has been about a 70 percent increase in hearing loss among teenagers. We live in a very noisy world.”

Experts have a variety of ways in which teenagers can protect their hearing, but it’s not clear whether the teens are listening.

Hull: “Of course, playing any personal stereo, particularly with the insert-type bud earphones, can cause damage if it’s being played at too high of an intensity. If it’s rattling against the side of the person’s head, then you know that it’s probably at about 105 decibels, at which time they can listen for about 15 minutes before permanent damage to their hearing.”

According to Hull and other experts, even a slight hearing loss can cause problems in school and set the stage for hearing aids later in life.

Hull: “We know that about 75 percent of teenagers have at least some degree of hearing loss. Even a mild hearing loss can be damaging in terms of their ability to hear in a classroom, for example.”

There are at least two ways teens can reduce the chance of hearing loss, as Hull explains.

Hull: “There are two important ways that teens can monitor their own hearing and therefore reduce the chance of hearing loss.

One is to limit the amount of time that they listen to their personal stereo to about 30 minutes. The other is to turn them down so that the person sitting next to them cannot hear what is being played through their system.”
Hull explains why teens aren’t getting the message on the dangers of hearing loss.

Hull: “The problem is we can’t see the damage that’s taking place within the inner ear, the damage to the little nerve receptors. Therefore, the loss of hearing may be occurring, but yet we don’t realize it until it’s too late.”
At the very least, Hull says teens need to become more aware of what can cause hearing loss.

Hull: “Playing music that is too loud is one of many ways that our hearing can become damaged. Others include riding in a convertible, mowing the lawn without appropriate hearing protection, riding in a car with the windows down, and just so many. They’re all cumulative and can result in permanent damage to our hearing.”

In the study, researchers analyzed data on 12- to 19-year-olds from a nationwide health survey. They compared hearing loss in nearly 3,000 kids tested from 1988-94 to nearly 1,800 kids tested over 2005-06. That means about 6.5 million have at least a slight hearing loss.

Loud music isn’t new, of course. Each new generation of teenagers has found a new technology to blast music from bulky headphones in the 1960s to the Walkmans of the 1980s. But today’s young people are listening longer, more than twice as long as previous generations, according to an audiologist at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for Wichita State University.