Is Christmas music ringing in your ears?

Posted Wednesday December 8, 2021

But wait! We’d like to remind you to take care of your hearing and not overdo the listening volume or, just as importantly, the duration. An excess of either can damage your hearing, and once it’s gone you never get it back.
Most people know that headphone or ear pod volume over 85 decibels damages hearing. But volume is only part of the equation — listening duration also damages ears, and listening at a ‘safe’ volume for several hours causes just as much damage.

Damage from constant low-level noise builds up with little warning so you could end up with hearing loss, tinnitus, aural fullness, sensitivity and pain. Any ear symptom is serious — ringing, muffling, fullness, fluttering, thumping, sensitivity, distortion, pain — even if temporary. The process is so gradual that it’s often hard to tell if you’ve damaged your ears until it’s too late.

This is not to say you shouldn’t allow yourself to occasionally turn up a favourite song — but a handy formula to apply is duration x volume: as one increases, the other should decrease.

Enjoy your music over the holidays, just make sure you enjoy it safely.