Young People Worldwide Are Losing Their Hearing

By Caroline Leone

Stonehill News Staff Writer

College freshman Katherine Doherty has been blasting her favorite music through earbuds since she was a child. A few years ago, she noticed a ringing in her ears after wearing her listening devices for long periods of time and she couldn’t hear her television at low volumes. Her doctor diagnosed her with early signs of hearing loss. A recent study shows that Doherty is one of more than over 1 billion young people worldwide who are experiencing early hearing loss due to overexposure to personal listening devices.

“I was worried about my hearing, so decided to get my ears checked, and that's when I found out I was showing early signs of hearing loss,” Doherty said.

According to a recent study by BMJ Global Health, it is estimated that 0.67 to 1.35 billion young people worldwide are likely to engage in unsafe listening practices. Listening to sound at high volumes can fatigue the sensory cells and structures in one's ear. If this is frequently happening, the ears can become permanently damaged resulting in hearing loss. 

BMJ Global Health conducted a worldwide systematic review to estimate the prevalence of unsafe listening practices from exposure to personal listening devices and loud entertainment venues in young people ages 12-34 to find if they are at risk of hearing loss. They searched three databases that reported unsafe listening practices in young people from 2000 to 2021. They also pooled prevalence estimates of the exposed population which were calculated using random effect models or ascertained from a systematic review. 33 studies of corresponding data were included and 17-18 records focusing on personal listening device usage and loud entertainment venues. 

The results came in with 23.81% of young individuals being at risk of hearing loss. Then the study fitted the model and added intensity thresholds and exposure duration making the percentage 48.20%. The study also found that personal listening devices, like earbuds, headphones, and Air Pods, are the number one threat to young people at risk. The scientists behind this research hope that this data will communicate the urgent need to promote safe listening habits. The World Health Organization has publicly available recommendations, standards, and toolkits to aid the development and application of safe listening worldwide, especially among young people. The World Health Organization also worries that if this topic is not communicated to the world and to younger generations, these numbers can double within the next few years.

Deborah Lidster, who has been a registered nurse for 22 years at The Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH, spoke about the subject matter and was not surprised by the results from the BMJ Global Health study. Lidster has worked with many different patients, many of whom come in with hearing loss or tinnitus. She said that symptoms like ringing in the ears and being unable to hear quiet noises are early signs of hearing loss, but even with these early signs, a lot of the time hearing loss will go unnoticed until it is too late. 

“Hearing loss is a scary disorder because once you lose to hearing loss because of noise exposure, there's no going back. You don't repair it, there's no going back,” said Lidster. 

She said that overuse of personal listening devices can damage the sensory hair cells in the inner and outer parts of the ear or the nerves that carry the hair cell to the brain. She said that if one listens to sounds that are too loud frequently or daily, then these cells and nerves die, and as far as doctors know they don't regenerate. It is important for young people to get their hearing regularly checked at scheduled check-ups. During the growing process, one’s ears are still being developed. Lidster said that if listening to sounds at high volumes damages the ears while they are still growing and being developed, then this can cause affected damaged hearing throughout one’s life.

“Of course, headphones and Air Pods are terrible for your hearing. Personally, I recommend noise canceling headphones because you are less likely to turn the volume up if there is no sound to drown out,” Lidster said and suggested. 

Suggestions like these will help younger people keep their hearing. The World Health Organization and the BMJ Global Health study have many recommendations for young individuals who engage in unsafe listening practices and are at risk of hearing loss. They said when at a concert, club, or bar with loud music being played, take breaks by walking outside or going to the bathroom where the noise is quieter. For headphone users, as Lidster said, noise-canceling headphones are the safest option because there will be no background noise to drown out which makes one want to turn up the volume. Also, taking breaks and limiting oneself to the amount of time to keep headphones on is necessary because a maximum of two and a half hours a day wearing earbuds or headphones is proven a healthy amount of time.

“Headphones and especially earbuds are so damaging because they push earwax to the back of the ear canal and the longer or more often, they sit in your ear, the more earwax can get stuck, which is damaging to your ear,” Lidster said. 

All these recommendations can help young people prevent hearing loss and are the precautions Doherty was recommended by her doctors and currently follows. 

“Since I have been using my earbuds less often, I’ve already noticed a difference in my hearing and feel I can hear better now,” Doherty said.

“I am glad I was paying attention to my early signs of hearing loss because it's not something I would want to live with,” Doherty said.