Prevent Tech-Related Hearing Loss

Now that I listen to music more frequently, I've decided to be more careful with my volume control. This happened after a man in Louisiana filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the iPod can cause hearing loss. Many thought the case was ludicrous, but it was a wake up call for all. It really brought awareness to the real potential of hearing loss from electronic devices—so much that Apple took action. Yesterday, Apple announced a free software update for the iPod Nano and fifth-generation iPods, that allows consumers to set a maximum volume limit. If you've been listening to any music player for more than a few seconds at the highest possible volume setting, you may have already experienced hearing loss. The iPod can produce up to 125 decibels (dB), which can cause some serious damage after one hour. But that's not all; devices marketed to children—like the Bratz Liptunes and Disney Mix Sticks—also produce high decibel ranges of up to 120dB, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) .

How Loud Is Too Loud?

ASHA blames any loud noise above 85dB as a cause of permanent hearing loss. Yet, we expose our hearing to over 115dB every time we go to the movie theatre, a rock concert or even the gym. On top of that, we rock out to our music players on full blast. Listening to your iPod at half volume (98dB to 101 dB) is still considered damaging. So play it safe by ditching those generic earbuds that came with your iPod, and trade them for noise-canceling headphones. Also remember to keep the volume down, and practice listening to music at a comfortable level. You only have one set of ears, protect them for the long run.

Noice-Cancelling vs. Noise-Isolation

I'm not going to leave you guessing here, so here's a quick heads-up. You want to look for noise-canceling or noise-isolation earphones. These two types of headphones should block external noise—such as airplanes, buses or lawnmowers—thus preventing you from turning the volume up to drown unwelcome sounds. If you love earbud-style headphones, better sound quality, and want to completely block ambient noise, the clear choice for you is the noise-isolation solution. These earbuds will completely "isolate" you from the world and reduce noise up to 30dB. Noise-canceling earphones sit on top of your ears, provide more bass, and block out less ambient noise—up to 15dB. Etymotic's 6i Isolator and Shure's E Series isolating earphones provide greater sound detail at a lower volume, and are perfect for earbud-wearers who love their iPod. Bose QuiteComfort 2 and Sony's MDR-NC50 are two popular noise-canceling, over-the-ear headphones.

Chime in! Tell me what other noise-canceling or noise-isolation solutions are out there?