(Don’t) Let The Music Play…

Image Source: www.hearinghalos.com

Each one of us is a music lover in some way or the other – while some of us love listening to music, some love singing too and there are many who just love dancing. Music is a part of our lives, but not beyond a certain limit when it comes to listening to music on headphones.

Life is wonderful with some much of variety in music, and in the age of technology, most of us feel proud to be living in the age of iPods. But recent research by scientists have shown listening to music on headphones can have a temporary impact on our hearing because of the damage caused to the hair cells in the outer ear.

The findings are based on a study (published in the June issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery) in which the participants were tested for their hearing before carrying out the study and were then asked to listen to pop or rock music for six one hour long sessions. They were given different types of headphones and at different volumes.

After each session, men and women in the age group of 19 to 28 were made to listen to different sounds of different frequencies to see how clearly they could hear the sounds. The scientists found that participants showed temporary changes in their hearing after listening to one hour of pop-rock music on their portable music devices.

The problem is grave in the sense that the portable music players these days can store a good number of songs and even have a good batter life, thus encouraging listening to music for longer hours. This gets worse in cases when we play music at higher volumes so next time your child asks for an iPod as a birthday gift, think twice or ensure it is used in moderation before you ‘face the music’ with dangerous repercussions.