Turn Down The Noise
Listening to loud music either by attending a rock concert or by overusing earphones, has become a trend among the youths and teens. Moreover, the voice mode set to the feature ‘flight’ that drowns out the outside noise in a crowd is even worse. So, when is loud music harmful?
It becomes harmful when one is unable to hear any other sound except the music blaring in the ears. It is harmful when the volume of the MP3 player is 60 per cent or more of the maximum limit. So, loud music is basically harmful when it involves a short-term exposure to decibel levels above 110 or a long term exposure to decibel levels above 85.
The Effects Of Loud Music
Possible Hearing Loss
Listening to loud music through the headset over a long period of time may cause permanent hearing impairment or tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Also, the tiny hair follicles present in the inner ears are damaged due to the loud music and this can cause a loss of hearing.
Disrupted Nerve Signals
Loud music tends to affect our whole neurological system resulting in a lifetime of chronic diseases. A protective coating called myelin obstructs the electrical nerve signals. Noise levels above 110 decibels strips insulation from the nerve fibres that carry signals from the ear to brain.
Loud music is basically harmful when it involves a short-term exposure to decibel levels above 110 or a long-term exposure to decibel levels above 85
Psychological Impact
Generally, happy and content individuals prefer soft and peaceful music instead of loud music. If one has an affinity towards loud music, he/ she is trying to avoid paying too much attention to his own life, Thus, there are chances that a person can go into chronic depression by too much repression.
Tips To Protect Your Ears
- Take regular breaks from your headphones to give your ears a rest. Stop setting the volume above 60 per cent of the maximum.
- Invest in noise cancelling earphones as these help to decrease the temptation of increasing the volume.
- Use musician’s earplugs or earmuffs, varying in degrees of attenuation which generally over-attenuate the high frequencies resulting in the reduction of the sound quality.
Point To Remember
If people around you need to shout for you to hear, your music is too loud and you need to tone it down.