iPod Worth Deafness?

A couple of days ago, I was listening to music in the shower (California Gurls! Omg!) as per usual, because — let’s be honest, I like to sing along and pretend that I’m a rock star. I’ll admit it. It’s a pleasure of mine (I don’t even feel too guilty, truth be told). A bit later, I had my dad tell me that he was worried about my hearing, because there have been a lot of news reports about how iPods and loud music can result in hearing loss.

photo credit: seanmcmenemy

Now I’m not an old guy, I’m almost 19. I’ve never seriously considered losing my hearing, but the thought of it is quite dreadful. Also, after watch the UFC 116 pre-show last night and seeing Brock Lesnar come to the recognition that his body had failed him once (he had holes in his stomach, as he put it — I’m not really sure what happened, I was only half-paying attention until that point), I realized that if a dude like him could have holes in his stomach then I could probably, very easily, lose my hearing if I kept listening to music too loudly.

I’m not an anti-iPod guy; in fact, ever since I lost my iPod Nano 4G a month ago, I’ve been quite saddened and adjusting to a life of no-Pod. (I’ve been trying to live in silence while walking, seems a bit more natural and I pay more attention to things, like cars and whatnot…can be important sometimes.)

So I decided to Google it, and apparently the safe threshold is at around 80-85 decibels for earbuds. For more information, here’s an ABC News report: http://abcnews.go.com/health/video/health-insurance-premiums-jump-10977894&tab=9482931&section=1206835&playlist=1363742

I think that I’m going to do without an iPod for a while, but it is dead useful at a gym certainly, or in the shower, or on really long walks. The report indicated that volume and duration are the biggest criteria; thus, I think one change I will recommend is listening only to really high-volume songs when you have no choice. (Trust me, concerts and clubs will be filled with them.)

Also, in-ear earbuds usually have headphones at 5 decibels louder, the news report indicated. I’d recommend buying sound isolating headphones; thus, the background noise will be blocked out and music can be listened to at lower volumes without background interference. The V-Moda Vibe IIs were excellent, as were the Able Planet NC200s.

But go easy on the ears, they might come in handy in the future. Haha.