Experts warn against listening to loud music on headphones

Dubai - Recreational noise from personal listening devices can cause hearing impairment, warn experts.

Listening to loud music over your headphones or earphones could cause hearing impairments, according to leading experts.
Dr Lubaina Sharafally, a clinical audiologist at the American Hospital said, "People exposed to noise levels over 85 decibels for long durations are at an increased risk for acoustic trauma. This trauma can occur in a work setting, aviation industry, oil and gas or construction where individuals are exposed to loud noise for long durations repetitively."
She added, "Recreational noise exposure is commonly seen in people who like to go to shooting ranges or noisy clubs without exercising any hearing protection, that is earplugs or earmuffs. Need for hearing conservation with the use of earmuffs, customized hearing protection, ear plugs apply to all ages and to any person who is exposed to loud sounds or noise."
Stephan Jansen Van Vuuren, 41, a Dubai-based Air traffic controller, said, "Given the nature of my job, I undergo a stringent medical examination on an annual basis where my eyes and ears are tested. It was during one of these tests that I noticed a bit of a loss."
He added, "My doctor at the time suspected the sound of the rifle fired during my military service caused the initial damage to one ear, the one closest to the rifle. But later on, I suspect loud music, aircraft noise at airshows and the noise of a hairdryer I use to leave on to help me fall asleep, have also contributed to the damage. Today, any sudden unannounced loud noise would give me such a fright that I would lash out if it was created by a person in my proximity."
Once the hearing is lost, it won't come back" cautioned the doctor. Sharafally, "so it's important to understand the hazards of noise exposure, practice good hearing health and protect your hearing for life." She recommends using the noise feature on wearable devices, such as the Apple Watch Noise feature that can assist one to identify noise and limit the effects of noise exposure, as noise, can damage hearing in a silent manner and create irreversible loss leading to severe communication difficulties.
Twenty-nine-year-old Nelly Attar, the owner of Move Riyadh Studio, Saudi Arabia's first dance studio, loved her music loud in her younger days.
She said, "I used to always blast music in my ears to dance, put the highest volume in my car and go out often to places with very loud music. I took my ears for granted for many years thinking nothing could go wrong." Over time, Attar developed tinnitus permanently - a condition where which causes the perception of noise or ringing in the ears. A common problem, tinnitus affects about 15 to 20 per cent of people.
"I remember having a very bad ear infection one time and going to a friend's birthday celebration. Once I got back home that night, I started experiencing a ringing sound in my ears. Since then I developed tinnitus permanently, it's been eight years now," she said.
Attar adds "My ears were delicate and fragile and long exposure to loud sounds throughout my teenage years prompted me to develop tinnitus. she admits "I had warning signs, but if you don't know how to read those signs, you continue to ignore them until it's too late"
World Hearing Day
Every year, the March 3 marks World Hearing Day, an international day to raise awareness on deafness and hearing loss prevention and to promote ear and hearing care across the world. Hearing loss, which worsens with age, affects more than 360 million people worldwide, this is about 5 per cent of the world's population, according to. World Health Organization (WHO).
The study said, "Roughly half of the people aged 12-35 are at risk of hearing loss."
In the UAE, there's a significant number of people affected by deafness and hearing disabilities. Hearing loss does not only affect immediate perception but can also contribute to cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, hypertension and even dementia.
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