This post is brought to you by Puro Sound Labs. All opinions are my own.

Is your child at risk for noise-induced hearing loss? I was surprised to find out that my son is.  Jake is an avid gamer. When he’s not playing games like Minecraft with his friends online, he’s watching videos on YouTube about the game. He wears headphones throughout a good portion of his free time. Even when he’s lounging on the bed watching movies on a laptop, he prefers to listen through headphones. Let’s talk a bit about noise-induced hearing loss, then I want to introduce you to Puro Sound Labs and their awesome solution to help prevent it.

Noise-induced Hearing Loss in Kids: It’s a bigger problem than you might think

The American Osteopathic Association warns that today, 1 in 5 teens suffer from some level of noise-induced hearing loss. The main culprit? Loud music and entertainment through headphones. That rate is 30% higher than what it was during our generation. Considering I spent the better part of my teen years (okay, and last week, if we’re being honest) listening to blaring loud punk music regularly, I am a bit surprised that our generation made it through relatively unscathed. But we didn’t spend quite as much time listening to music through headphones. Sure, during long car rides or walks, but at home we really didn’t chill on the couch watching videos on laptops. We also didn’t have a billion songs at our fingertips at any given moment.

How loud and how long before damage occurs?

Just how much noise is too much noise? I think this infographic from Puro Sound illustrates it best.

Did you know that today’s average MP3 player is capable of producing sound at rock concert level? If your kids are listening at top volume, that’s like having the Warped Tour on their ears, day in and day out. The rule of thumb states that you should listen at 60% volume for only 60 minutes a day. Your child’s ears can only handle max volume for a max of 5 minutes. One song, basically.

What are the signs of noise-induced hearing loss in kids?

The signs of noise-induced hearing loss in kids are what you would expect. They include:

• Ringing or buzzing in the ears
• A difficult time understanding others, especially in noisy places
• A muffled sound in the ear, like you’d get when you put ear plugs in
• The need to listen to the TV or other forms of entertainment at a higher volume than usual.

I actually have a constant ringing in my ears. Mine is medicine-induced, brought on after I was prescribed one medication and it just never went away. It can literally make you crazy. I don’t want that for my son. I don’t want him going through life trying to figure out new ways to just make the ringing stop.

Noise-induced hearing loss in kids can lead to slew of other problems. It can cause a slip in grades if they can’t understand their teacher. It can lead to MORE hearing loss if they keep turning up the volume on everything. The tinnitus alone can drive them bonkers. Worst of all: it’s irreversible. There is no cure. Sure, they can get a hearing aid, but that’s not a cure, now is it? We have to prevent the hearing loss in the first place. One way to prevent NHL is by giving our kids the right headphones.  That’s where Puro Sound Labs comes in.

Prevent noise-induced hearing loss with the right headphones

The “right headphones” are headphones designed to limit the level of sound streaming directly into our kids’ ears. That way, even if they’re turning the volume up all the way, they’re not going past a safer level of noise. There are quite a few “kiddie” headphones out there. We’ve actually used a few different brands over the years. I can say without a doubt that Puro Sound Labs does it best. Later this week, I’ll share my complete review of their Studio Grade Children’s Bluetooth Headphones. Today, I want to tell you a bit about their story and why they’re so passionate about preventing noise-induced hearing loss in your kids.

Puro Sound Labs was founded by Dave Russell after his own daughter was diagnosed with NHL. Dave looked everywhere for noise-limiting headphones that worked for all ages. So many of the headphones available are, let’s be totally honest, designed for kiddie kids. I get it, the companies have a target audience and they cater to them well. At almost 11, my son is no longer part of that target audience. No hard feelings there, but like Dave, I too was having a hard time finding headphones that fit my son’s growing noggin. Up until now, he’s been wearing ill-fitting superhero headphones at home.

Since Dave has a tech background, he decided that he would just create noise-limiting headphones for all ages himself. He not only built a better headphone, he made them look super awesome too. The first thing my son said when he took them out of the box is “these look cool!” He actually wanted to show them off. Huge win, Puro!

Puro Sound Labs made it their mission to protect YOUR kids – yep, even your teens – from wholly preventable noise-induced hearing loss. They’ve created a product that not only delivers fabulous studio-quality sound at a safer level, but that looks amazing too. They recognize the fact that the only way noise-limiting headphones work is if our kids actually want to wear them. ALL of our kids. Not just the 7 and under crowd. In fact, they have headphones for adults too!

Just how committed is Puro Sound to protecting your family’s hearing? They actually have a NY-state licensed audiologist on their team. Noël Thayer has 15 years of experiences in treating hearing loss under her belt. They are so passionate about preventing NHL that they even have a form where you can ask their audiologist questions and she’ll answer, free of charge. They’ll also put you in touch with someone at Bronxville Hearing Center if you want to ask a question directly.

I’ll go into far more detail about the headphones Jacob received later this week, but for now, head over to Puro Sound and check out their different types of headphones. The BT2200 Studio Grade Children’s Bluetooth Headphones come in three different colors (we have the utterly cool silver and white style) and cost $79.99. The adult version costs $129 (they have some added features, like lights to let you know when you’re at an unsafe volume). They also have wired in-ear headphones for $29.99.

They’re worth every last cent, not just because they help protect your family’s hearing, but also because they’re just that good. Like “wow” good. In fact, if you don’t love them, they’ll give you your money back or replace the headphones.

VALUABLE COUPON ALERT!: If you enter the code OPINIONATED at checkout, you’ll save 15% on your order. That brings the children’s headphones down to $67.99, the adult headphones to just about $110 and the buds to about $25.50. And yes, I used a calculator, so that math is right, give or take half a penny.

Come back later this week to check out my review of the BT2200 Studio Grade Children’s Bluetooth Headphones. Until then, check out Puro Sound Labs website. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with news (including awesome giveaways).  Check out their Instagram and Pinterest pages for serious coolness.

Have you ever experienced noise-induced hearing loss? Were you surprised to find that it’s affecting so many more kids now than 20 years ago? Talk to me in the comments!