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!
Oh I believe it. I am always yelling at my kids to turn down the volume.
So very true. I travel a lot for my job and I see kids with headphones and I can hear the music blasting from down the airport terminal!
Oh, I absolutely believe this! 20 years ago we didn’t have nearly the loud technology we do today; video games, music, television…I remember when I was in high school I was listening to my music so loud everyone in class could hear it. These headphones sound really nice!
Now we all know why our parents always told us to turn it down. The sad thing is you don’t start carrying about your hearing until it might already be damaged. I’m so glad someone thought to invent headphones to help reduce the problem earlier.
That’s so true, wearing earphone all the time is never going to be healthy for you or your kids. Thanks for the info on these headphones, they sound amazing. I would really love to recommend them to my girls.
I love that those headphones are safe for extended listening periods. I don’t want to have to worry about the kids losing their hearing.
These look like great headphones for kids! It is so important to protect their hearing while they are young!
i’d probbaly get this for my and my daughter. we both love watching movies and she likes watching artsy videos on youtube. this can help both of us to prevent hearing loss
Yes it’s true I have a nephew and I can hear the music in his headphones. I will recommend this for him looks like a great earphone.
This is a great info. Love that there are headphones that can prevent this kind of hearing loss.
I never thought that this was possible! Scary for kids. Need to educate them on hearing loss. Thanks for sharing!
Such an eye-opener! I did not know that even for a short period of time, loud sounds can cause damage to a child’s hearing. I need to tell my daughter about this. She and her husband should turn down the volume of their tv when they watch their movies. I will also have to let them know about getting their son this special headphone.
I will forward this article to my kids who love listening to loud music. Thanks for the helpful info.
I never would of thought that headphones would help not loosing your hearing, This is great to know!
Headphones get louder and louder nowadays! Great post, this is important!
Oh no! my daughter is also into You Tube a lot! I’d look for that headphone brand and let her use it.
This is so important. There are so many toys that are really loud, radios, TV’s , Devices and more. It is important to have a good hearing level that doesn’t damage our ears.
My husband is deaf in one ear. He should of had these headphones years ago. In the factory he worked there was lots of loud noises. They only supplied ear plugs
I worry about my niece & nephews with their headphones! They can turn it up so loud I can hear it & that can’t be good.
This is a very important message to get out to parents.
This was great. A lot of good information on here. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Wonderful write up you’ve got. One of the parts of the body that people don’t understand its functioning is our ear. we may get worried if we’re disturbed about noise but we don’t usually care that the resultant effects of noise pollution really endanger our hear. this effect usually reflect when we grow old and unfortunately too, children that are exposed to pollution could also develop hearing problem. the genetic factors are not the causes in most cases if I must say. it’s good if the government and the people should manage our ecosystem optimally.
http://www.healthriskfood.com/2016/12/hearing-loss-disorder.html
Wonderful write up! My son loves to have his earphones all day long, but I insist that this is not healthy! I am going to show him this article.