Sound check

Listening to music at a high volume on your iPod or MP3 player is bad for you. Read on to know why

Listening to music at a high volume on your iPod or MP3 player is bad for you. Read on to know why
Twenty five 8211;year-old Harbani Kaur never leaves home without her iPod. 8220;I listen to it on my way to work which is an hour away from home, play it at the gym and also listen to it before I hit the sack,8221; she says. But it hasn8217;t been all sweet music after two years of listening to the iPod at the maximum volume for three hours. 8220;It8217;s not that I am deaf, I can hear just fine when I am at home or in another quiet place. It8217;s just that I have to concentrate very hard if someone is talking to me in a noisy place,8221; she says.

While we have always used walkmans and discmans, it was only after the popularity of iPods and other MP3 devices that doctors have rung a warning bell about premature deafness . A worrying trend is that the younger lot listens to their iPods at a very high volume. 8220;Listening to music at 110-115 decibel levels which is the maximum volume in most players for an hour can cause permanent damage to the hearing,8221; says Dr S K Aggarwal, internal medicine,

Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Delhi. Since iPods are less than a decade old, there aren8217;t many studies to tell us the level at which the hearing can get affected. 8220;People find it more convenient than constantly changing CDs and end up listening to the iPod or MP3 player all the time 8211; while exercising or driving. If a 10-year-old child is listening to it for five hours everyday and continues to do so for years, chances are he/she will be partially deaf by the age of 50,8221; says Dr Monica Chhabra, internal medicine, Max Healthcare, Noida.

Doctors say that iPods and other MP3 devices should not be used for more than hour a day. 8220;While 60 decibels is considered to be the normal level of sound, prolonged exposure to anything above 85 decibels or more can cause gradual hearing loss,8221; says Dr Chhabra.

So if you want to listen to your favourite music for over an hour without hurting your ears, doctors suggest keeping the volume on the device low. Dr Aggarwal says, 8220;The volume level should also be kept below 60 per cent of maximum volume. However, if one turns down the volume to 30 per cent of the maximum volume, they can listen to it for longer.8221;

Another reason for raising the volume is to cut out the noise from the background. To avoid this, one can try on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. They eliminate background noise and listeners don8217;t feel the need to increase the volume at a level that can damage their hearing. 8220;Noise-cancelling headphones can be an option, but they are not easily available and are a bit costly than the usual ones. These are a good option for those who insist on listening to their iPods for long hours during the day,8221; says Dr Aggarwal. You could also get speakers for your iPod and play it in your room. Also, most car stereos are compatible with MP3s, so you don8217;t have to plug your ears while driving.