Limit use of personal music devices to protect your hearing

The rates of hearing loss among young people have been increasing over the past decade. At least part of this increase can be attributed to the near daily use of personal music devices or MP3 players. To combat the rising rates of hearing loss the World Health Organization(WHO) has just come out with new guidelines for listening to music. They recommend limiting music listening to an hour a day.

Of course it's not just the amount of time you listen to music, but also how loud it is that determines how dangerous it is to your hearing. The lower the volume the longer you can safely listen. The louder the music, the more quickly it will damage your ears. Here are the safe listening times recommended by the WHO:

• 85 dB - the level of noise inside a car - eight hours

• 90 dB - lawn mower - two hours 30 minutes

• 95 dB - an average motorcycle - 47 minutes

• 100 dB - car horn or underground train - 15 minutes

• 105 dB - mp3 player at maximum volume - four minutes

• 115 dB - loud rock concert - 28 seconds

• 120 dB - vuvuzela or sirens - nine seconds

A good rule of thumb is to listen to your MP3 at around half volume and limit the amount of time you use it. If you are trying to listen in a noisy place consider getting noise cancelling headphones. They will cancel out a lot of the background noise so that you don't have to turn up the volume to hear over the noise.

If you have any questions about protecting your hearing please phone Accurate Hearing at (902) 252-3004 in Sackville or (902) 423-7734 in Halifax