Constantly being plugged into listening devices
one of the reasons for noise-induced hearing loss among youth
Getting
diagnosed with hearing loss when he was 22 was the last thing he expected.
Leon, now
25, thought it was something which happened to the elderly. He was wrong.
He had
been experiencing a ringing in his ears (tinnitus) on and off since his late
teens. But after playing the bass guitar at a concert in Toronto, Canada, in
2012, the ringing did not stop. At first, he thought it was just like his
previous bouts of temporary tinnitus and would go away after about an hour.
It did
not.
Consulting
an ear, nose and throat surgeon when he returned to Singapore, he found he had noise-induced
hearing loss, which was irreversible.
This type
of hearing loss is usually caused by exposure to excessively loud sounds.
Leon's
ringing in the ear is now always present in the background. He has learnt to
tune it out most of the time. "The only time I really notice it is when I
am sleeping," said the recent graduate of Nanyang Technological University
(NTU).
As he
sleeps on his side, the ringing in the ear that is on the pillow is even louder
because the pillow blocks out external noise.
A recent
survey of 375 university students aged 18 to 25 showed that one in three young
people in Singapore is at high risk of getting noise-induced hearing loss,
based on their listening habits.
These
include listening to music above the recommended safe volume of 85 decibels or
60 per cent of the maximum volume, and attending clubs or concerts at least
once a week, where volumes can easily go beyond 100 decibels.
The
survey, done by a group of final-year NTU students in December and January,
also found that almost all the respondents (96 per cent) were unaware of
noise-induced hearing loss.
Even more
alarmingly, close to one-quarter of them had experienced hearing-related
problems before, the most common being a ringing in the ear.
Young
people visiting clubs or attending concerts may not know the damage they are
causing to their hearing, said Ms Catherine Chew, 22, one of four students
involved in the survey.
The
final-year student at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
noted that nine in 10 interviewees said they had experienced some ringing in
their ears after leaving clubs or concerts.
But, in a
separate interview based on the survey's key findings, eight out of 10 said
they did not take any precautionary measures such as wearing ear plugs or
taking breaks by leaving a noisy venue.
Because
everyone does it, people believe it is the norm to expose themselves to such
dangerous levels of noise for hours, said Ms Chew.
All said
they would listen to music during their commute using portable music devices,
and seven out of 10 are plugged in while studying.
"Noise-induced
hearing loss is an under-recognised issue among youth," said Dr Yuen Heng
Wai, senior consultant in the department of otolaryngology at Changi General
Hospital.
But the
condition takes a significant number of years, depending on the length and
intensity of exposure, to develop, so those who frequented loud clubs or
concerts in their youth may not seek medical help that soon.
"We
are not expecting people to come with the condition in their teenage
years," he said.
But he
has been seeing a trend of more younger people visiting his clinic. Over the
past three to five years, there has been roughly a 10 per cent increase in such
patients year on year.
The two
most common causes of noise-induced hearing loss among his patients are
occupation-related, followed by use of personal listening devices.
Dr Yuen
predicts that the availability of personal listening devices will cause an
increase in noise-induced hearing loss among youth.
"Many
of them do not think that they are susceptible," he said.
Take Ms
Amanda Ling, who was 19 when she noticed that the usually temporary ringing in
her ears was not going away. She was then a music major at Lasalle College of
the Arts and was practising a couple of hours a day on the drums, timpani and
marimba.
"My
hearing loss is entirely noise induced," said Ms Ling, now 31 and still
hearing that ringing in her ears.
She also
figured that playing in her first band, Throb, which she joined in 2003, could
have contributed to the damaged hair cells in her ears as well.
"But
when you are young, you think you can take over the world, you don't think that
you could be vulnerable to this," said Ms Ling, who is also a yoga teacher
and DJ.
People
with noise-induced hearing loss have difficulty hearing high-frequency sounds
like the chirping of certain birds or the ticking of the clock, said Dr Barrie
Tan, director of the Centre for Hearing & Ear Implant at the Singapore
General Hospital (SGH).
This is
because such hearing loss usually adversely affects the high-frequency portions
of the cochlear (inner ear) rather than the low-frequency portions.
Some
patients tell of not being able to hear the reverse sensors of cars, or the
whistling of kettles, which may have an impact on safety, said Dr Tan, who is
also head and senior consultant in the department of otolaryngology at SGH.
The
department sees 10 to 20 cases of noise-induced hearing loss a month.
These
patients also may not hear parts of certain words clearly, like the
"f", "sh" and "th" consonant sounds and end up
having to ask for sentences to be repeated.
Most
people with hearing loss will find that noisy places are the hardest to listen
in.
That
would be a good early sign of hearing loss, said Dr Tan.
They may
also raise the volume of electronic devices at home so as to hear better, and
these would include the TV and sound systems, often to the displeasure of
family members, who complain that the volume is too loud, he added.
Since
being diagnosed with noise-induced hearing loss, things have changed for Leon
and Ms Ling. Their listening habits are different now.
Leon does
not listen to music as loudly as before and he has stopped playing gigs. Also,
if he is in a noisy bar, he would go outside every half an hour or so.
Ms Ling
uses a special set of ear phones for jamming sessions, rehearsals and gigs
which lets her control the volume. She also limits her headphone usage.
"I
wish I was more aware of safe listening habits when I was younger. I would have
used ear plugs when jamming," she said.
Note: The survey was part of a final-year project campaign called "Down
the Sound" by NTU students. It aims to raise awareness of recreational
noise-induced hearing loss among young people and to keep it at bay by
advocating safe-listening habits. Go to www.downthesound.com for more
information.
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