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Music plays a significant role in the Hispanic culture found in North America, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
It is of utmost importance to inform Hispanic consumers of any potential risk to their hearing. Because of recent advances in personal audio technology, the public can now listen to music at very high levels for long periods of time-something that can result in premature and permanent hearing impairment.
As an audiologist who evaluates teens and other young users of iPods and other MP3 players in the Miami-area, I am seeing more and more mild high frequency sensory hearing loss notches at the 3000-6000 Hz range, the signature of early noise-induced hearing loss. In my clinic, we have found that some young people are very resistant to lowering their music's high sound-level, even after receiving warnings of the potential risks of listening to music too loudly and for an extended period of time. Because of this resistance, our clinic has felt compelled to warn and educate parents of these risks.
The culprit is not the technology itself, but a combination of things: (1) setting the volume a high level to create sometimes a desired booming effect, (2) listening too loud for too long, (3) using a loosely fitting ear bud or earpiece which allows unwanted ambient sound to be heard and can cause listeners to compensate by turning up the volume, (4) the headphone size because research has found that smaller headphones give higher output levels at any volume setting, and (5) absence of prominent product warnings from manufacturers of devices or headphones about the potential risk of hearing loss.
For the sake of the next generation's hearing, it is imperative that we continue public education programs like the one that the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has undertaken. Educators, health professionals, manufacturers, and consumers need to take an active role to further ASHA's efforts and protect the hearing health of our children.
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