Since their debut in the marketplace, iPods have revolutionized the way we listen to music. iPod hard drives store up to 300 hours of music, batteries last for 12 hours, and the volume can be cranked up to 120 decibels. Thats louder than a chain saw or pneumatic drill, and equivalent to a jet plane taking off! But iPod fans are being warned to turn their music down. Even manufacturer, Apple, includes a cautionary note with every iPod, warning, “permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume.”
Currently, 16 million baby boomers have hearing loss and the number is expected to surge to 78 million by 2030. Amazingly, nearly three-quarters of them admit that they have never visited a doctor or hearing health specialist to have a hearing test. In spite of this lack of concern, there are more boomers aged 46 to 64 with hearing loss than seniors over the age of 65 with the same condition, and hearing loss among baby boomers is 26 percent more common than in previous generations.
Loud music and noise causes hearing loss by damaging the delicate hair nerve cells in the cochlea, a part of the inner ear that helps transmit...