You've probably heard this over the news the past few days, but it is a serious issue that I wanted to reiterate. The ear buds in Ipods and MP3 players are causing more hearing damage than headphones. This is because the ear buds allow in more ambient noise, so people turn the volume up louder to block out the noise. I talked with the audiologists I work with yesterday about this. As a result, my kids' and DH's ear buds are going in the garbage and they'll be using small headphones now. The audiologists said that they have recently seen a huge increase in sensorineural (irreversible) hearing loss in adolescents and teenagers. It is subtle now, but that said that these kids will need hearing aids by the time they are in their late 20s/early 30s. Please join me in being a "mean mom" who makes her kids look "so uncool" by swapping out earbuds for headphones and limiting usage to 60 minutes per day at no more than 60% volume (slightly above halfway on the volume controls).

news article about Ipod/MP3 use
Peter Townshend of The Who warns about Ipod use

By Kate on Friday, January 6, 2006 - 11:15 am:

Fortunately no one here owns any of these players or the ear pieces required for them. However, I don't understand something...aren't ear buds those things you put right IN your ears?? Wouldn't those BLOCK the ambient noise more than flimsy headphones which fit so loosely?? I would think you'd get more surrounding outside noise with the headphones and have to crank the volume louder for those. Ear buds seem like they'd plug up your ear so all you can hear is the music. Why am I confused?

By Pamt on Friday, January 6, 2006 - 11:24 am:

Everyone's ears are different sizes, so environmental noise leaks in around the ear buds---they don't make a seal. Since headphones cover more of the ear, they do a better job of blocking out noise. It's never been an issue for me because my ear canals are small and it is VERY painful for me to wear ear buds anyway. They hurt!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, January 6, 2006 - 11:40 am:

We are usually listening to the Ipod in the car, as a family, so one is using the earbuds. Sarah has only used hers a few times! At home, we have the ipod songs on the computer and just listen to them through the computer speakers.

By Breann on Friday, January 6, 2006 - 02:44 pm:

We don't "allow", for lack of a better word, our kids to use earbuds or headphones.
That is a good reference article. I'm going to save it and show DH.

By Melanie on Friday, January 6, 2006 - 07:41 pm:

Thanks for the info. Both of our boys just got ipods. I will switch the earbuds to headphones.