Dr Laura Booth tests the volume of reporter Laura McCardle’s iphone
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Turn volume down – or regret it later
By Laura McCardleApril 17, 2012
Hearing experts from Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) hit the town centre to warn people of the dangers of listening to their MP3 players at a high volume.
The audiologists teamed up with national charity Action on Hearing Loss to warn people of the risk of developing tinnitus, a ringing in the ears, or losing their hearing completely as a result of listening to loud music through their headphones.
They stopped passers-by in Broad Street and outside Reading Station on Tuesday, April 3 to see if they were listening to their MP3 players at a potentially dangerous volume and advised how to prevent hearing problems later in life.
According to the charity, anything louder than 80 decibels causes damage.
Participants were asked to wear an earphone connected to the dummy head and set the volume to a level they would usually listen to.
If the light on the dummy went red, they knew they needed to turn it down.
Dr Laura Booth, principal clinical scientist at RBH, said: “Historically our audiology services have managed the hearing loss of the elderly but we’ve decided we need to start being more proactive helping the younger generation protect their hearing.
“A lot of people have come out with a red result which means they are using their MP3s too loud.
“The majority say they won’t make any changes which is quite interesting but if they experience tinnitus, they would worry.
“My feeling is that because hearing loss isn’t happening to them now they won’t worry until it’s happened.”
With the team was Marc Nicholson, 31, who DJs in bars and clubs around Reading.
He suffers with tinnitus, or a “high pitch noise” as he referred to it, as a result of listening to loud music through headphones.
He said: “I have listened to MP3 players for most of my life.
“When I was younger they thought the ringing would go away and was just one of those things.
“One day I went to bed with the ringing and it has been there ever since – it’s chronic.
“I’m coping fine but for about a year I was really depressed. The worst thing is I have done it to myself.”
He said the awareness event was “fantastic because people don’t know what’s a safe level to listen to their MP3. The problem is they don’t realise what a serious issue it is.”
For more information about tinnitus and hearing loss, visit www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk
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19/04/2012 at 09:35 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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I was grooving to the Brussels Affair, a fantastic 1973 concert by the Rolling Stones, with some wonderful slide guitar by Mick Taylor on the left channel, and Keith Richards' riffs on the right. They approached me at the Reading Station, and said that my volume levels, after running the test on the IPOD, were dangerously high.
Goats Head Soup and Exile On Main Street are top quality albums. I'd rather go deaf listening to the Stones, or Led Zeppelin, as opposed to the Cowell-generated dreck that you hear in most places.
18/04/2012 at 16:39 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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18/04/2012 at 13:48 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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18/04/2012 at 08:56 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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Why is it that they always play such utter tripe at high volumes? You never hear good music!
17/04/2012 at 16:17 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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17/04/2012 at 15:07 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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any damage an ipod might do me is small beer compared to the damage my mental health will suffer having to listen to the proles as I walk down the street/commute
17/04/2012 at 15:03 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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Only cure it.
17/04/2012 at 14:28 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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He then told me how horrified he is by the number of people in their late teens and early 20's who are presenting for flight crew medicals who have the functional hearing of a 50 year old and who, by the time they reach 50, are likely to be functionally deaf. And then these people will lose their medical and will not be able to work as aircrew.
And it is all down to the volume that people listen to their ipod's and the like. in 25 years time a large number of people will be regretting their earphone habits of today.
17/04/2012 at 14:12 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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17/04/2012 at 14:11 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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