With the increasing popularity of MP3 players a large number of young people are exposing their ears to damaging levels of noise. Here are some helpful tips to prevent hearing loss while using MP3 players.
- Limit the volume on your iPod to no more than 60 percent of the maximum volume.
- Don’t listen to your MP3 player for prolonged periods of time. Give yourears a rest every hour. Do not listen continuously for more than an hour each day.
- Invest in a set of headphones that helpto minimise background noise, thus reducing the need to increase the volume to compete with the noise.Some headphones have a noise cancelling feature, such as the Sennheiser PXC150.
- Use earphones that sit over the ears, rather than the small ear buds that fit in to the ears as they reduce the level and intensity of volume being presented to the ear.
- Download a patch from Apple which allows you to set the maximum volume on your iPod so the volume never goes above a certain level. A code can also be entered so that parents can set the volume on a child’s iPod without it being tampered with.
- Have regular hearing checks to help monitor any possible changes in hearing levels.
Finally! Remember, if it’s loud enough that you can’t hear a person near you speaking at normal levels (normal conversationlevel is around 65dB) then the setting is probably too high!
To contact your nearest Connect Hearing centre please call 1300 362 231.
Author: Tanya Wilson
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