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“I’m
excited, this is my favorite band,” exclaims 15-year-old
Brittany Roll. She and her best friend Sarah McMenamin are going
to their first rock concert. They’ve been planning this day
for a month and thought out every detail-except one.
“No, I don’t worry about my hearing,” Sarah
says just before the show. In fact, according to a survey by Harvard
Medical School, only 8 percent of young people thought that hearing
loss was a “big problem.”
And only 14 percent reported ever wearing hearing protection.”
And yet, “the volume in a rock concert is almost equivalent
to a jet engine in terms of how loud it is. Through cumulative
exposures to that level of sound, can cause hearing loss in and
of itself,” explains Dr. Brian Herrmann, pediatric ENT.
And he says the damage from a loud concert or other loud noises
may not show up for years. As Dr. Herrmann explains, “What
happens early in life when you may not be thinking, can have long
term effects upon not only your 20s and 30s, but also into your
50s and 60s. It actually is what happens during childhood and early
adulthood, which sets you on the path towards early hearing loss.”
Brittany and Sarah had signs of hearing loss as early as the
first intermission. “We walked out during the half-time,
and it was kind of, it was different. I could hear everything,
but it was a little foggy kind of hearing, like if your ears were
popped,” says Brittany. Sarah had the same experience, “It
was really hard to hear everything. It was really soft.”
But even with this noticeable damage, would they wear ear-plugs? “Probably
not,” Brittany says. “Cause everybody will be like,
looking at you,” agrees Sarah.
But doctor’s say there’s a way to protect your ears and
still be “cool.” As Dr. Hermann says, “I’m
sure that if most children were to see the full range of products
that were available, they would find something that fits their needs.” |
