Years ago, I was at my gym and the music was so loud, I couldn’t focus on exercising. I asked a trainer if he could turn it down; he seemed genuinely puzzled. I spoke to the front desk; nothing. Then, months later, the music got even louder! This time, I went to the manager who insisted that the volume was just where it needed to be.
I dropped my membership.
Why didn’t the manager realize the music was deafening? High levels of noise can, over time, damage hearing, and I suspect that he and the entire staff – exposed to blaring music every day – were slowly losing the ability to hear how loud it really was. So, they would crank up the volume, which compromised their hearing further. And so up the volume went again. And so on.
Our hearing is a surprisingly vulnerable sense. One you’ll need to take special care of.
Deep inside your ear, thousands of microscopic hair cells pick up sound waves and convert them into electrical signals that are sent to the brain. If you are exposed to loud noise briefly, your hearing may bounce back. But if the noise is very loud or goes on for a long time, those cells can die - and permanent hearing damage can result. Not all hearing loss is caused by noise - some is naturally due to aging or genetics.
But shockingly, when it comes to noise, it doesn’t take much to cause trouble. I used a phone app to test the sound level at that gym, and it registered 85 decibels. That's high enough to harm hearing if it persists, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. It takes as little as 15 minutes to damage hearing at 100 decibels and as little as two minutes at 110 decibels. Those levels are typical for rock concerts, sirens and screeching subway brakes. Sporting events, power tools and motorcycles all pose risk. And that loud music through your Airpods? You’ll enter the danger zone well before you reach the pods’ maximum volume.
All this damage can have far greater consequences than constantly asking, “What did you say?” The British Lancet Commission recently concluded that hearing loss is linked to a 37 percent increased risk of developing dementia, making it the largest known modifiable risk factor. Scientists don’t fully understand the connection, but people with hearing loss receive less stimulation from the world around them, a known risk for cognitive decline. The good news: treating hearing loss with hearing aids helps.
If you are noticing you can’t hear high pitches or you’re struggling in noisy restaurants and at parties, it’s worth getting your hearing checked out. Start with online tools if you’d like, but a doctor or audiologist can give you the full picture. Your best defense, however, is prevention. If something sounds too loud, it probably is, so turn down the volume, step away or use ear protection.
I’m at a new gym. If the music starts to blare, I don’t argue – I pop in a pair of blue foam earplugs - problem solved.
Janice M. Horowitz covered health for Times magazine for more than two decades; she created and hosted the public radio segment, Dueling Docs: The Cure to Contradictory Medicine. And is the author of Health Your Self: What's Really Driving Your Care and How to Take Charge.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.