Cumulative hearing damage
One raucous concert won’t leave you permanently deaf, but the more you expose yourself to loud noises, the worse the damage is and the more likely you are to experience trouble hearing at an earlier age. Turn up the volume at the gym to tune out the annoying music they play, mow the lawn without ear protection, roll the windows down in the car and turn up the music—it all adds up.
“It’s much more common now to see older teenagers and younger adults with hearing loss,” says Grimes. “It is presumed that this is a result of increased noise exposure.” If you can’t have a conversation with the person next to you at a normal volume or if they can hear what you are listening to, your music is too loud. Same goes for anything else you are doing. Either turn it down or wear ear protection to prevent damage to your hearing.
