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"Let's begin," the doctor said as he sent a series of high-pitch pulses into the subject's ears. Afterward, an automated voice said, "Repeat after me: baseball ... mew ... there."
Mary Adkins, the subject, was getting her hearing tested, something many young people never think about. And even though her results showed she had nearly perfect hearing, she may not be so lucky in the future.
Adkins, 22, is one of millions of people who listen to music on portable audio devices like iPods and other mp3 players. The surging popularity of such players, with their earphones close to the eardrum, is putting more people at risk of hearing damage, audiologists said.
The convenience of the portable systems allows people to listen more often, and audiologists warn that consistent exposure to the loud noises these systems can generate can cause permanent hearing loss.
"I think more young people are damaging their ears," said Dr. Robert Sweetow, director of audiology at the University of California in San Francisco. "The potential for listening to loud sounds has dramatically increased."
Sweetow, 56, said that when he was a teenager, nearly 40 years ago, radios weren't glued to people's ears, and speakers would get distorted when music was played too loud.
But today, with small earphones, sound is pumped directly into ears.
"With iPods you can crank up the volume enormously high before it sounds bad," Sweetow said.
One reason people turn levels up is to drown out other sounds, like on the "L," where everything from roaring trains to chatty passengers to performers fill the air with noise.
Another reason for upping the volume is that loud sounds resonate right through the entire body.
Brian Prahl turns up the music so high on his iPod that New York subway riders next to him can clearly hear the tunes blaring from his earphones.
"When it's loud, it makes me feel closer to the band," said Prahl, 27, over the clamor of the train. "I feel that since I'm young, it's not going to affect me."
Some earphone manufacturers understand the compulsion to boost volume levels but say it need not be so. Companies like Etymotic Research Inc. and Shure make tiny earphones that seal within ear canals in order to reduce ambient noise and thus lessen the temptation to increase volumes to block it out.
Such devices, which work somewhat like earplugs, are smaller than the familiar white "earbuds'' sold with iPods.
Because they are placed deeply within the ears, listeners don't have to blast themselves with as much sound.
"It's like making your ear into an ultra quiet listening room," said Chris Lyons, a director of product management for Shure.
Some doctors agree that such "earplug-earphones" are good solutions. However, with prices that range from $100 to nearly $500, the cost may be prohibitive for the average consumer.
Adkins said that she listens to her iPod for about an hour a day while jogging, studying and riding the subway. She turns the volume up nearly 80 percent, roughly 96 decibels.
If she keeps it up she will damage her ears, said Dr. Maurice Miller, professor of speech-language pathology and audiology at New York University.
From the Chicago Tribune
Mary Adkins, the subject, was getting her hearing tested, something many young people never think about. And even though her results showed she had nearly perfect hearing, she may not be so lucky in the future.
Adkins, 22, is one of millions of people who listen to music on portable audio devices like iPods and other mp3 players. The surging popularity of such players, with their earphones close to the eardrum, is putting more people at risk of hearing damage, audiologists said.
The convenience of the portable systems allows people to listen more often, and audiologists warn that consistent exposure to the loud noises these systems can generate can cause permanent hearing loss.
"I think more young people are damaging their ears," said Dr. Robert Sweetow, director of audiology at the University of California in San Francisco. "The potential for listening to loud sounds has dramatically increased."
Sweetow, 56, said that when he was a teenager, nearly 40 years ago, radios weren't glued to people's ears, and speakers would get distorted when music was played too loud.
But today, with small earphones, sound is pumped directly into ears.
"With iPods you can crank up the volume enormously high before it sounds bad," Sweetow said.
One reason people turn levels up is to drown out other sounds, like on the "L," where everything from roaring trains to chatty passengers to performers fill the air with noise.
Another reason for upping the volume is that loud sounds resonate right through the entire body.
Brian Prahl turns up the music so high on his iPod that New York subway riders next to him can clearly hear the tunes blaring from his earphones.
"When it's loud, it makes me feel closer to the band," said Prahl, 27, over the clamor of the train. "I feel that since I'm young, it's not going to affect me."
Some earphone manufacturers understand the compulsion to boost volume levels but say it need not be so. Companies like Etymotic Research Inc. and Shure make tiny earphones that seal within ear canals in order to reduce ambient noise and thus lessen the temptation to increase volumes to block it out.
Such devices, which work somewhat like earplugs, are smaller than the familiar white "earbuds'' sold with iPods.
Because they are placed deeply within the ears, listeners don't have to blast themselves with as much sound.
"It's like making your ear into an ultra quiet listening room," said Chris Lyons, a director of product management for Shure.
Some doctors agree that such "earplug-earphones" are good solutions. However, with prices that range from $100 to nearly $500, the cost may be prohibitive for the average consumer.
Adkins said that she listens to her iPod for about an hour a day while jogging, studying and riding the subway. She turns the volume up nearly 80 percent, roughly 96 decibels.
If she keeps it up she will damage her ears, said Dr. Maurice Miller, professor of speech-language pathology and audiology at New York University.
From the Chicago Tribune