Me + Richard Armitage
a frequently irreverent and occasionally cerebral feuilleton of richard armitage studies
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Me + Richard Armitage 
Earbuds are bad for you?
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Apparently, in the youngest generation (individuals under 20), something like fifteen to eighteen percent are already showing permanent hearing loss due to their earbud habit. Not because of the earbuds per se, but I guess that it’s hard to tell when a noise is dangerously loud on your phone or player, and the earbuds don’t stand in the way of that.
Not that dad’s problems relate to loud music, but in the course of all these trips to the audiologist I got my hearing tested (I’m 98 percent in one ear and 100 in the other) and he asked me if I used earbuds. I said, not if I can avoid it, they make my ears itch, and he told me all these statistics about hearing loss in people who play music on their cell phones.
And … which i think is interesting … the new hearing aid dad just got was developed specifically because younger people who have hearing loss needed a faster processor to keep up with listening to music on their devices.
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I am not surprised to read that. I certainly notice it in myself. My hearing is not as good as it used to be. And certainly also selective – as in: I seem to hear some frequencies pretty well and others not at all. My husband, who never listened/listens to music by earbuds, has much better hearing than me… And yes, I am worried for my kids…
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This is what dad’s audiologist would say: the moment you notice a deficit, get tested. The auditory nerve is a “use it or lose it” item, i.e., if you get used to not hearing certain things, you may never hear them again even with a hearing aid. And with enough damage, you can gradually lose the ability to sort out auditory inputs, i.e., you will still hear things but not be able to identify or process them, which is very disturbing. Finally, untreated hearing loss has been shown to increase the risk of dementia in elderly people by up to 40 percent, so if you have an elderly friend who suffers, get him/her to a doctor soon.
Dad is at 84% / 90% of normal hearing, and even that level of loss means a lot of shouting — loud talking when he can’t hear or understand what I’ve said, and sometimes arguments / fights when he mishears something and problems ensue as a result.
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Interesting! I don’t use them to listen to music, only occasionally to watch a tv programme on my iPad without irritating others. I keep the sound relatively low anyway.
I think I may be losing a bit of my hearing – sometimes my husband will hear things that I don’t (and I don’t think he’s gaslighting me 😂)
I guess I better go and get tested!
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some age-related hearing loss is normal, apparently, but I would support getting a test. I don’t know what it costs in the UK but here it is covered by insurance and it takes about five minutes.
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Now, that is a new (strange) perspective! Albeit it’s hard to not take notice of this elvin ear….
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So apparently he isn’t having his ear amputated, as we feared many years ago, lol.
I’ve been at the audiologist six times in the last five weeks, so I’ve got it a bit on the brain at the moment.
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With a lot of the focus on healthy lifestyles and wellness these days this is one of those things that escapes our notice until the damage is done. Maybe it’s a sign to get tested since I’ve caught myself a few times asking people to repeat themselves. Fortunately, I’m no fan of earbuds and only use them occasionally.
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I got tested about ten years ago because I was having issues with hearing students in the classroom and both my parents had already had hearing loss at the time. The audiologist I saw then told me it was either the acoustics of the room or the students were mumbling. However, some age-related hearing loss is to be expected, I think.
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I wonder if headphones are as bad as earbuds? I don’t like earbuds as they hurt my ears just having them in. Once in a while I have a set for school just in case. I did have a walkman as a teenager so I could listen to what I wanted to for music without getting caught. (church music only and I wanted to listen to anything but church music). This year I started listening to music on headphones again to block out the noise at the apartment so I could study and no be bothered or bother others. My boys don’t use earbuds but have headphones. I know that if you can hear the music etc on headphones its to loud. I do worry as both my grandpa and dad had hearing lost do to degenerative ear problems.
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I just googled this — the Internet says earbuds increase the average decibel level by nine decibels due to being directly in the ear canal. I don’t understand decibels well but my memory is that they’re not arithmetic but exponential, i.e., adding ten decibels makes something twice as loud (50 decibels is twice as loud as forty).
I’m an occasional headphone user, but I don’t really like loud music that much, so I can’t say anything about headphones really.
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What is he doing with his lips? He looks dapper, but not quite like himself.
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I’ve noticed that in a lot of his selfies he has pursed lips. I think that we all subconsciously put on a selfie or “mirror” face that we don’t normally have.
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It’s probably how he likes his face to look, but it’s not the way I think of him.
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there used to be this style fad for selfies called the duck face (I think?) but I don’t think that’s what he’s up to, I think he’s just concentrating and thus pursing his lips. I don’t take many selfies but I notice I also contort my mouth slightly when I do.
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I don’t take many either… I always smile in selfies, I prefer my face smiling. Maybe he’s heard us talking about the blinding teeth and makes sure now to keep his lips closed! Lol.
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Definitely do not like this selfie and there are a few others. This has his face elongated more and seems the angles taken with selfies are usually weird causing some distortion. Reg. earbuds only use them to listen to the audio books and adjust my sound so it is comfortable enough to hear but not so loud it is annoying. I do not like exceptionally loud volume when listening through the buds. Only time I like loud is if I am listening to music ( w/o the buds) but then not too lound there also.
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nice photo, I’m glad. You do that very nice. Just noticed that Adam is the main character .. is so exciting.
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Interesting, now I have to think about earbuds versus headphones. I use earbuds in bed listening music or watching films for not disturbing my husband, but not very loud because I can hear additionally some noises around me ( driving cars on the street).
Re selfie: his nose and mouth look a little bit strange to me. There are better selfies.
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