Walking down town Toronto one could not fail to observe the amount of people walking with ears plugged with music. In many cases one can even hear music from the ipods
of passer-by, so high is the volume. The question that arises when watching all those is it safe enough to have this going on 3-4 hours a day. Do our ears get tired listening to such loud noise? Do they need rest?Journey of Sound
Human ears can hear and understand sound due to the vibration it creates. As sound is collected by the external pinna or ear, it is then passed to the middle ear where due to the vibration on the ear drum is recorded. Vibrations are converted to chemical signals and then send to brain, thus evaluating the sound.
Normal and the Abnormal
Human ear can hear in the frequency from 20 Hz TO 20,000Hz. Normally one speaks or converse at around 60 db. While one do hear music on Walkman or iPod
at around 94 db if the volume is kept at level 5 out of level 10. Ears if exposed for long time with sound frequency of 90-95 db can cause hearing loss in an individual. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, more than 15 minutes of exposure to 100 decibels is unsafe. So are we at a risk of a big epidemic of hearing loss then?
Not just hearing loss but many researchers does agree that hypertension and many other physiological difficulties can relate to high sound exposure.
How to Rest our Ears then?
1] Keep the volume of your ipod
or mp3 player 
to bare minimum. 2] Avoid constantly having those devices in your ear. Give them and your ears some rest.
3] For a minute or two keep your ears closed. Enjoy the emptiness, the same feeling that one can feel when underwater.
4] Ayurveda prescribes different herbal oil for your ears to keep them healthy. Ask your Vaidya or Ayurvedic Consultant for more help.
Do you have anything to add? Do you know any person around you who have turn deaf due to the excess usage of iPods and mp3? Any suggestion how to keeps ears trouble free even with using modern technology?
Posted by Sudeep
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