Bill Hodgetts, assistant professor, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta, who led the study stated, "People generally listen to music at reasonable levels of volume, but we've found that exercising, mainly because of the background noise, can influence people to turn up the volume to potentially unsafe levels for the ear.”
Details of the study
In a bid to provide some insight into the potential risk of hearing loss caused by exposure to loud music and to raise awareness of music induced hearing loss, the researchers looked at 24 people aged 18 to 30 who regularly exercised while listening to iPods.
They studied the volumes selected by people in a gym while exercising in a variety of conditions. The participants were scrutinized while listening to the same song on an iPod while placed on a stationary bike in a quiet environment, resting in a noisy environment and then while exercising on a stationary bike in a noisy environment like that of a noisy gym.
The researchers then recorded the listening levels of the participants.
Observations by the researchers
The investigators found that sweating it out in a gym prompted people to increase the levels of volume to potentially dangerous levels once the noise was introduced.
"Noise basically conditions everyone . . . to listen at a louder level," explains Hodgetts. "When you add exercise, people get even louder."
Nearly half of the subjects were listened to music at an average of 92 decibels during their workouts, well above safe listening levels putting themselves at a risk for hearing loss.
According to Hodgetts, the risk involved is not only in the listening level but also the duration of time.
When the exposure is repeated often at regular intervals it can lead to permanent hearing damage.
He declared, "Noise is a cumulative thing . . . if you do it repeatedly before (your ears) get a chance to fully recover, it becomes a permanent hearing loss."
Simple solution to the problem
Hodgett said there is no reason to despair and the problem can be solved by arming yourself with better earphones.
He stated, "The gym is a noisy place. Background noise is the main factor in why people will raise the volume on their personal playlist. Any earphones that reduce the background noise, either with an active noise cancelling circuit or just a good tight seal, will allow people to still enjoy their music without having to turn it up so loud.”
"It's a small price to pay to protect your hearing."
The study has been published in the International Journal of Audiology.
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