Now hear this! Headphones can damage your hearing!
The city’s Health Department is loudly blasting that message, telling music-obsessed New Yorkers that they risk hearing loss with earbuds and headphones constantly booming tunes into their heads.
The agency announced Tuesday that it will run an aggressive ad campaign in subway cars, on local radio and on the Web.
One ad has the picture of an ear, with an earbud and the words, “Hear today.”
That’s contrasted to a neighboring image of an ear — this one with a hearing aid and the stark message, “Gone tomorrow.”
“Listening to headphones at high volume for too long can damage your hearing,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley. “If you want to continue to enjoy music in the future, you’ll turn down the volume today.”
Sounds blasted at a high volume for hours on end “can injure the delicate, hair-like cells of the inner ear that convert sound waves into the sounds we hear,” according to the Health Department.
“The injured cells cannot be repaired, and once enough of them are damaged, hearing problems can occur.”“Light to moderate” was defined as one to four days a week for less than four hours a day.
In a 2011 survey of adult New Yorkers, 23 percent of respondents with “heavy” use of earbuds and headphones reported hearing problems. Only 10 percent of “light-to-moderate” users had difficulties hearing.
The survey defined “heavy” use as at least five days per week, with an average of at least four hours each day.