We love to listen to our Ipods and mp3 players....aah! how i love the metal and the bass blowing into my ears! the superior transmission quality of the current models of earbuds an earphones enhances the effect of the noise to the limit of bliss!!

but i "hear" there is a small problem in this case. the human population is slowly gong deaf...yah u "heard" me right....according to a recent survey in the United States, 28 million people in the US suffer from hearing problems with 80% of them irreversibly affected.

According to the audiology researchers, the human ear can tolerate upto 80 decibels of sound for a long time without any issues. the problem is with higher intensity sounds. mp3 players produce around 120db sound which can wreak havoc in our ear.

our ear basically consists of a fluid in the cochlea, which absorbs the sound waves thus reducing their intensity a little bit. these sound waves pass through the fluid and generate motion in the ciliary hair in the ear, which gives rise to the "sensation" of sound.

High intensity sound waves rupture the cornea and also rip out the ciliary hair. most of these damage is irreparable. we dont realise the damage since it is painless and gradual, but it occurs...by god, it does!!

the good part is that the society is now slowly discovering the harmful effects of blasting sound INTO the ears. bad part is we youngsters are not bothered by it. music is our best companion in trains, at work, walking down the street or while lying down in bed. so whats the solution??

one way around the problem is to listen to sounds below 80 db. now how do we do that with an mp3 player? rule-of-the-thumb says "you are in the safe limits if your player is at less than 60% of its maximum volume" you can listen to this intensity even for long durations.

researchers are also of the opinion that out-of-the-ear headphones are slightly better than in-ear ones. there r some companies that also sell earphones that completely filter out external sound, so the need of pumping up the volume does not arise. plus, some medications are in the offing that kinda act like a buffer against high sound. (I wonder how?)

So the bottomline is...use your mp3 player responsibly. we hardly look at mp3 players and music as addictions on par with cigarettes and tobacco, but my friend, their effects r analogous....

may ur hearing be as healthy as ever!!!


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