If you hear ringing or other sounds in your ears or head after listening to your I-pod, it’s likely an indication that the listening volume is too high and you may be damaging your hearing. Tinnitus is the term used to describe sounds that someone hears in their ears or head that do not come from outside the body.

The number one cause of tinnitus is noise exposure.

When you are exposed to noise or sounds at unsafe volumes, damage can occur to the inner ear.  Our inner ear contains the cochlea, the small snail shaped organ that is responsible for converting sound from mechanical pressure into electrical impulses that will eventually travel along our auditory nerve up to our brain.  Click here to learn more about how the human ear works.

In a recent study conducted in 2011, Fligor found that a majority of I-pod users where listening at unsafe volume levels. The study randomly stopped people of all ages on the streets of New York City University, and asked to measure their listening volume on their I-pod without touching the volume.  The average listening volume was 87.2dBA averaged over 8 hrs, a volume which is considered to be unsafe and could potentially cause hearing loss and/or tinnitus.

The study further suggested younger listeners used higher listening volumes but no difference was found for music genre. Rap music volumes were no louder than Jazz.   They also noted that I-pod users were turning up the volume higher to overcome background noise.

The take home message from this study was to listen to our I-pods at lower volumes, and that we should consider using headphones that block out some of the background noise so that we don’t need to turn up the volume as loud for enjoyable listening.