Around 6.5 million teenagers in America suffer from some degree of hearing loss, yet a vast majority of them are not aware of the problem, according to a Sept. 11 Science News article.

Although researchers are still unable to pin-point the cause of the one-third increase from teens tested in 1994, many believe the use of MP3 players, such as iPods, is to blame.

Sensorineural hearing loss, or acquired hearing loss, results when cells or nerves in the ear are damaged and deteriorate, according to HearingLossAndTreatments.com. Without fully functioning ear nerves or cells, a person will find it harder to detect sound waves.

Reactions to statistics

Despite these studies, freshman Ileana See says that listening to music will have no effect on her later in life.

“I don’t care at all,” See said. “I doubt that listening to music is going to make you deaf when you’re older. If it did, more adults would be hard of hearing.”

Other enthusiastic listeners may point out that teens have been exposing themselves to loud music for years. This arouses the question: Why is teen hearing loss an apparently new problem?

One explanation for the rise in recent statistics would be technological advancements in portable devices, including longer battery life, larger storage space and increased portability. These new improvements expose teens to music more frequently and for longer periods of time.

Dr. Krystin Farrell, an audiologist at Physicians Hearing Services in Fresno, believes the upswing in new statistics to be miscalculated.

“They’re doing more screening now, where a few years ago that wasn’t the case, and a lot of kids were being missed,” Dr. Farrell said. “The number that’s increased actually hasn’t increased — it’s the same. Just now we are identifying them sooner.”

Teens suffer symptoms

One out of every five teenagers suffers from slight hearing loss which is virtually undetectable, according to an Aug. 17 Huffington Post article. The inability to notice slight hearing loss may make it dangerous.

A senior at Bullard High School, Lucas Franklin woke up one day to discover that he could no longer hear in his left ear.

“In the eighth grade, the nerve connecting my ear to my brain just stopped working,” Franklin said. “I feel like people can be very discriminatory toward me. It’s a lot harder to follow teachers, and I have to be persistent in taking notes in class. But it is easier to sleep if you put your good ear in the pillow.”

The ringing sound in ears implies that the surrounding environment is too loud. The official name for this symptom is tinnitus (tih-neye-tus).

Freshman Viviana Hinojosa recalls her tinnitus experience after a Justin Bieber concert.

“After a concert, I could not hear for a half hour,” Hinojosa said. “It was like mufflers were over my ears.”

Dr. Farrell’s advice for protecting ears during a concert is to purchase earplugs.

“Buy some earplugs that are fairly small and not usually seen, so you don’t look like you are being a wuss at the concert,” she said. “Use your smarts. If you can feel the music vibrating through your body, it’s too loud …. You can still enjoy the concert without losing your hearing.”

Sources of potential hearing loss

Some teens, like junior Raine Hayes, have considered the long-term effects.

“I think that if you are constantly listening to music at full blast, then it could damage your hearing,” Hayes says. “But if you just turn it up every once in a while, I do not see a problem with it.”

In fact, letting loose every so often to blare music will not damage the ear, if it is done right. It may be better to turn up the volume on a stereo system than on a personal device.

Because iPods and MP3 players blast sound waves directly into the ear, they put the cells and nerves at a higher risk of being damaged. With the volume up to its maximum, people should not listen for more than five minutes, according to a July 28, 2008, article in Time Magazine.

Other teenagers, such as avid drummer Matt Adams, ’13, do not worry about potential consequences.

“I find comfort in the invention of the hearing aid,” Adams said. “I really don’t think about it all that much.”

Dr. Farrell advises teens to “know the limit. Understand the long term effects, become aware of the consequences and protect your ears. It will save your hearing.”

For more features, read the Sept. 1 article, Transitions test mettle, maturity.

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