Seventy-one percent of teens tested before and after a rock concert had a hearing abnormality after the concert.
A recent segment on Los Angeles’ KABC news demonstrated the affect that loud rock concerts can have on teens’ hearing. National statistics show that one out of five teenagers is suffering from a hearing loss so serious that the damage might be permanent. Researchers at a prominent ear health care institute wanted to pinpoint possible causes and decided to attend a three-hour concert at Staples Center last summer to evaluate teens before and after the concert. Dr. Jennifer Derebery and her colleagues evaluated the concertgoers' hearing before and after, and queried the teens on the concert’s affects.
Each teen was advised to wear plugs before the concert, but only three chose to use them. "At this concert, no, I didn't wear earplugs. I wanted to get the full experience," said Mariah Hernandez, 18, one of 30 local teenagers who were evaluated. "Before, my ears were OK. You wouldn't have to talk loud and I could hear you. But now I feel a lot of pressure in my ears, so you have to talk louder."
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines require hearing protection in workplaces where decibel levels reach higher than 85. At the concert where the teens were being studied, more than a third of the songs reached over 100.
"Seventy-one percent of them had an abnormality after the concert," said Dr. Derebery. "All of the kids were normal before the concert. We are no longer confident that this is going to reverse back. Hopefully it will and likely it will, but it shouldn't have occurred in the first place," said Dr. Derebery.
With so few of the teens choosing to wear earplugs, Dr. Derebery said it is up to concert promoters to make sure kids are safe when they go to performances. "We want to work with the promoters on this. We like concerts, everybody does. We just want to work with the promoters at these venues, at these stadiums, and say let's get these to reasonable sound levels."
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