SAN DIEGO–Thousands of Kaboo Festival attendees will show up prepared to protect themselves against skin cancer but will neglect to protect their eardrums from what the American Medical Association calls America’s fastest growing medical epidemic, permanent nerve hearing loss.
Permanent nerve hearing loss and tinnitus has increased 30% in young adults under age 25 since 1990. Nearly 20% of 12 to 19 year olds now show evidence of noise induced hearing loss. The good news is it’s predictable and preventable.
Similar to dermatologists who raised the public conscience about the dangers of sun exposure leading to skin cancer, audiologists are now sounding the alarm about the dangers of sound exposure leading to permanent hearing loss but unfortunately fewer people are able to hear it.
“Portable technology delivering hours of uninterrupted sound directly to the eardrum is leading to an unprecedented number of young people losing their high frequency hearing,” Dr. David Illich said, Chief Audiologist for Palomar Health.
The Kaboo Festival is the perfect opportunity for Dr. Illich and Palomar Health to remind the tens of thousands of people who will be attending the Kaboo Festival to wear ear protection to minimize the potential damage to their hearing. It’s also an opportunity to educate music lovers that they should take preventive measures to protect their hearing before and after the Festival:
- Follow the 60/60 rule: never listen to your device at more than 60% of maximum volume and never listen longer than 60 minutes without a 10 minute break
- Use high quality headphones instead of earbuds that deliver sound directly into the ear canal
- Wear high fidelity ear plugs when attending concerts