Listening to loud music either by attending the rock concerts or by overusing headsets or earphones, has become a trend among the youths and teens. Moreover, voice set to the feature ‘fight’ outside noise in crowd is even more causing problems.

What is loud Music ? When we are unable to hear any other sound except my music around us; when the volume of my mp3 player is 60% or more of the maximum. Loud music is basically a short term exposure to decibel level above 110 dB Or, long term exposure to decibel level above 85 dB.

Effects in Hearing

Listening music in loud music through headset over a long period may cause permanent hearing impairment or Tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Tiny hair placed on the top of the hair cells in the inner ears called stereo-cilia is damaged due to the loud music, which causes loss of hearing.

Effects in the Brain

Loud music tends to affect our whole neurological system resulting in the lifetime chronic diseases. According to a research from University of Leicester in the UK, “A protective coating called myelin, obstructs the electrical nerve signals. Noise levels above 110 decibels strips insulation from the nerve fibers carrying signals from the ear to the brain.”

Psychological Effects

Generally, happy and contented people prefer soft and peaceful environment instead of loud. If one is liking too loud music, he is trying to avoid listening to his own instincts and dominating the sound of his heart beats with the loud noise. Thus, chances are good that he can enter into chronic depression by too much of repression and escaping.

Tips to protect ears from loud environment:

Take regular breaks from your headphones to give your ears a rest. Stop setting the volume above 60% of the maximum.
Invest in noise cancelling earphones, which help to decrease the temptation of increasing the volume.
Use musician’s earplugs or earmuffs, varying in degrees of attenuation, which generally over-attenuate the high frequencies resulting in the reduction of the sound quality.

Remember – If people around you need to shout for you to hear them, your music is too loud and you need to slow down.