Bill McBain is on a 17-week quest to get down to 170 pounds from a high of 206. He is currently at 191, and you can follow his progress on 170in17.com.
Listening to my iPod today might make me deaf tomorrow.
I credit the ability to listen to music and motivational workouts as the No. 1 reason I have been able to stick with my workout routine this semester, but there are many dangers to using earbud headphones for extended periods of time.
“People think that because they are small they can’t do any damage. Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Dr. Michael Brienza, professor of physics and engineering at Fairfield.
Mike Piacente ’07, aka DJ Mike Nucca, listens to music for hours at a time.
“Sometimes things get pretty loud, but I don’t have any hearing loss and so it’s okay,” said Piacente.
Brienza cautions that students may not even know when they are damaging their hearing.
“The tendency seems to be music as loud as you can tolerate without causing pain,” said Brienza. “The threshold of pain is well above the threshold of damage, permanent damage.
He added, “Ear buds or earphones make it much too easy to exceed the damage levels. If a is person standing next to you and can hear the sound from your ears it is probably too loud and dangerous.”
University of Virginia researchers determined that most iPods are capable of playing music as high as 120 decibels. There is evidence of hearing loss after only 9 seconds of listening to music at this level. If you listen to an iPod at 98 decibels you can damage your hearing after only 23 minutes. Many Fairfield students use their iPods for much longer periods.
“I sometimes use my iPod for up to an hour and a half when working out,” said Colleen Slyne ’07.
Liz Grimm ’09 has a roommate who suffers from hearing loss due to noise exposure.
“She can’t even hear her alarm anymore,” said Grimm.
The health center was not aware this was an issue on campus.
“We definitely check students all the time for vision, but I don’t even think we have the equipment to test a student’s hearing,” said Susan Allen, an employee of the health center. Allen added, “I guess we would just refer the person to Pediatric Health Associates, which is where the University doctors come from.”
Apple released an update last spring that allows users to limit the volume of iPod devices. They did this in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by iPod users who had hearing damage. According to CNET.com, iPods were pulled from the shelves in France because of possible hearing damage. Laws there forbid the sale of devices capable of sounds over 100 decibels.
Many students think of hearing loss as an issue that only the elderly must address. Brienza would disagree.
“An interesting statistic is that my generation has a significantly higher percentage of deafness than previous generations,” said Brienza. He further explained the reason for this: “we were the first generation who listened to amplified music.”
To lessen the risks of hearing loss you must limit the intensity (volume) and duration of listening. While working out, I have been using a set of noise isolating headphones from a company called Etymotic Research that block outside noise. I like them a lot and they allow me to listen to music at a level about 80 percent lower than with traditional earbud headphones.
Another option is to use noise canceling headphones, which use electronics to eliminate outside noise. Whether you block or cancel noise with headphones, you must always be aware of your surroundings. I wouldn’t use them when running in traffic, but they are perfect for hitting the treadmills at the RecPlex.
Leave a Reply