What? A word to the iPod generation

Pete Townshend. Neil Young. Bono. Tom McCauley. Besides being musical geniuses (arguably), what do these guys have in common? Noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus, a permanent ringing, buzzing or roaring of the ears that affects more than 50 million Americans.It's no secret how we got it: years of playing loud music without earplugs. If music is the highest form of artistic expression, then the louder the better, right?

Maybe not. Prolonged exposure to noises over 85 decibels (the sound of city traffic) can result in injury to one's hearing. The louder the sound, the shorter the time necessary for irreversible damage. An average rock concert clocks in at 120 decibels. At this level it only takes a few minutes for harm to occur.

What has most audiologists and other health professionals concerned is the amount of loud music people are listening to during the day on their MP3 players. All of us have been around someone who is listening to music at such a ridiculous level that it's possible to sing along with the band.

Not only does the incredible volume at which most people listen to their iPods pose a danger to hearing, the standard delivery mechanism of the music itself also makes iPods unsafe.

Since those small white ear buds sit so close to the eardrum, the noise has less distance to travel to the inner ear's fragile cilia. This means people are far more likely to damage their hearing from ear buds than regular headphones.

For those who have experienced hearing loss, little can be done except learning how to cope with the condition. Hearing aids only amplify and modulate sound: they do not allow someone with damaged cilia to regain what they've lost. Pretty much the only thing a person can do once they've hurt their hearing is to prevent further damage by wearing earplugs in loud environments or avoiding noisy situations altogether.

What's insane is the social stigma against earplugs. So many people have told me they don't wear earplugs because they're afraid of what other people might think of them. To that I say: What? Are you afraid of people thinking you're a smart person? The use of earplugs is intelligent, wise, and not at all uncool.

If people really knew the difficulty of dealing with hearing loss at a young age - like having to say "what?" a hundred times a day or worrying about going deaf by age 40 - they might take it easy on the iPods and wear their earplugs when they go see Metallica, a band whose members suffer from tinnitus.

Frankly, hearing loss sucks. My ears roar all the time, and playing with my band is often nerve-wracking, for I wonder if I'm doing yet more damage to my poor ears.

Also, to give you an idea of the everyday difficulties that arise from noise-induced hearing loss, check this out: I am constantly mishearing people, and either mumbling or shouting when I talk because I can't really gauge how my own voice sounds. It's embarrassing.

My girlfriend is always either telling me to keep my voice down or that she can't hear a word I'm saying. And I don't know how to respond except, sorry, can't help it.

So just because some folks pretend not to worry about hearing loss doesn't mean it's no big deal. For me and the legions of people my age who have noticed their hearing start to diminish and have seen their grandpa-shaped future, we will defend with a roar what we have left.