Earbuds are an accessory as common as a watch these days and some teenagers rarely seem to take them out, but there's a warning from the World Health Organization about the damage it's doing to their hearing.
A new study shows more teens are at risk of hearing loss earlier in life, about 10 years sooner than typical because of a sharp increase in using earbuds and headphones.
Doctors are seeing two issues: how loud the volume is and how long exposure is due to keeping earpieces in too long.
The WHO found the number of teens at risk globally could top one billion. Of those studied, 24% are listening to music that is considered loud (which is around 80 decibels) and 48% have the volume cranked up to levels hearing specialists consider damaging, and even painful — above 100 decibels.
For context, the co-owner of Beltone West, Kory Castro, says a normal conversation is around 60 decibels.
"A lawnmower is typically around 100-110 decibels, a loud concert you go to is about the same level, even a leaf blower can be in the 90-100 decibel range. A lot of the devices people use are sitting right around 100-105 decibels at their max volume setting so they do have the ability of being too loud and potentially causing damage," said Castro.
He says parents can find a happy medium by encouraging the 80-90 rule, only turning the volume up to 80% for no more than 90 minutes at a time, and giving your ears time to recover.