Hearing Loss

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We find many teenagers wearing earphones all the time. Listening to music in high volume for an extended period can cause noise induced deafness. A new study shows 17% of teenagers suffer minor damages to their hearing ability.

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Middle school students are at an Internet cafe during the school's winter break. They play online games wearing headphones. They keep on raising the volume because the Internet cafe is quite loud.

[Soundbite] Student : "It's so noisy here I need to raise the volume to hear the game I'm playing. (What if the person next to you is too loud?) Then I ask them to keep it down a bit."

According to a study by Seoul National University Hospital on 27-hundred teenagers, 17% were found to struggle with noise-induced deafness whose symptoms include weaker discernment of high notes or certain vocabulary. Excessive use of earphones is believed to be one cause. Continued exposure to loud noise measuring over 90 decibels can damage auditory sensors, leading to noise deafness. The typical noise level inside a subway train is over 80 decibels. Listening to music or watching a video during the train ride therefore poses risks. It's difficult to restore hearing once it's damaged.

[Soundbite] Prof. Park Seong-jun(Catholic Univ. Yeouido St. Mary's Hospital) : "Noise deafness can continuously progress into adult years, affecting normal social and daily life. Precautions are necessary."

To prevent hearing loss, adjust the volume so that it stays below 60% of the maximum limit. Also, it's better to use headsets you can wear on the earlobe rather than earphones that completely seal the ear hole.