Mayo Clinic Minute: Easy way to check if headphones are too loud

Mayo Clinic Minute: Easy way to check if headphones are too loud

By
Jeff Olsen

October 3, 2016

a young woman with her eyes closed, listening to music with headphones or earbuds Are you listening to life at too high a volume and putting your hearing at risk?

“The No. 1 thing you can do to keep your hearing as healthy as possible is to stay away from excessive noise,” says Dr. Greta Stamper, an audiologist at Mayo Clinic.

Exposure to loud sounds can damage the cells of your inner ear. Symptoms and injury can occur from a short blast of noise or with long-term exposure to excessive sounds.

Some repetitive loud sounds now are coming through the small headphones used with music players and personal computers. If left unchecked, the high volume could cause noise-induced hearing loss.

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Dr. Stamper explains a simple test you can do to find out if your headphone volume needs adjusting. Jeff Olsen reports.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute