"There’s more distressing news concerning the hearing health of young adults… this time from down under. According to a survey hearing loss and tinnitus among the “IPod” generation is reaching extreme levels.

Apparently more than 70% of young adults in Australia – between 18 and 24 – have tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, which is the first sign of hearing loss. According to a new survey from Australian Hearing, headphones are to blame.

According to News.com.au, Professor Harvey Dillon, director of the National Acoustics Laboratory at Australian Hearing, said that younger respondents had a poor understanding of hearing loss. 25% of them thought that damaged ears would repair themselves and hearing would return.

“Older Australians, I might add, were much wiser, almost none of them thought that,” said Dillon on Fairfax radio.

He said that when people go to noisy parties and concerts the damage happens in two stages – both in the inner ear. One is temporary, one is permanent.

“We tend to notice the temporary loss of hearing and we notice it come back over the next day or two. What we don’t notice is that at the same time, in the same place but through a different mechanism, there’s also a permanent loss going on. A few hair cells dying here, a few hair cells dying there and they add up from time to time.”

According to Dr John D’Arcy, headphones can be used safely. He urges people to set the volume at a level which allows the user to hear someone at arm’s length without them having to shout."

This is a disturbing new trend. Pray for us of all ages. Marcia