Well, if you are they type of person that loves their music player and loves to play music loud, listen up. If you find yourself maxing the volume on your mp3 player, you could be hearing between 110 dB - 120 dB.

In physics class they said that that level of noise is as loud as being at a rock concert and is dangerous enough to cause permanent loss of hearing.

The reason they can get so loud is because the noise doesn’t have time to dissipate into the air before reaching your ear. Instead, it is blasted straight through the eardrum.

This is different than playing loud music on a speaker. As you start to move away from the speaker, the actual sound that reaches you decreases exponentially.

However, with earbuds there is no chance of that happening.

According to Dean Garstecki, an audiologist at Northwestern University, the solution is the “60 percent/60 minute rule”.

In other words, the volume should be at 60% of the music player’s capacity and the person should only be listening for 60 minutes.

If you exceed that you risk damaging your hearing.

I find it kind of shocking. I ride the bus everyday and I always see these young people with their earbuds or large headphones just blasting their music.

It’s horrible. Sometimes it’s so loud that you can make out beats, lyrics, or even the song. I often wonder: If I can sing along to the song at 5 feet away, how loud is that music?

So, for the sake of your ears and for those around you, keep it down.

Jonathan Lukas

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