Yo, Dude, Say What?

Listeners who cranked up the Rolling Stones in the 1970s are starting to turn up their hearing aids. Soon it will be the MTV generation's turn. A new Web-based survey, conducted by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, shows that young people aren't aware their listening habits could cost them later.

What, Me Worry? Among 9,693 teens and young adults responding to the survey at MTV.com, 61 percent said they'd experienced hearing problems during or after a concert. But only 8 percent defined hearing loss as "a very big problem," despite the fact that it can be permanent. Instead, conditions they gave that description to included sexually transmitted diseases (50 percent), alcohol or drug use (47 percent), depression (44 percent) and acne (18 percent).

The Now Generation Young adults focus on problems that may affect them immediately, concluded researchers. Hearing loss doesn't qualify, they said, because "the detrimental effects may not manifest for years." Concert-going is a major factor in hearing loss, said the researchers, leading to small hearing losses in youth and bigger ones later. Rock concerts can produce 120 to 140 decibels of sound -- as loud as firecrackers popping three meters away, according to the study.

Evasive Action Teens can be taught to cover their ears. While only 14 percent said that they'd used earplugs in noisy venues, many said they would in the future. Sixty-six percent said they would try ear protection if they were told that "even limited exposure to very loud music can permanently damage your hearing." (It can.) Likewise, 59 percent said they'd plug their ears if a doctor or nurse told them to do it. Only 9 percent said that they'd ever heard in school that loud events could cause hearing damage.

-- Rebecca Adams