Hearing loss is often associated with older people. Many assume difficulty hearing is just one of the effects of the aging process and that it won’t happen to them until they’re much older. However, the idea that hearing loss only affects your grandparents is a myth. It happens to young people, too, and the number of children and young adults with hearing loss has grown considerably in recent years.
It’s estimated that about one out of every five teenagers today has some form of hearing loss – a staggering increase of about 30 percent compared to the 1990s. Unfortunately, that number will likely continue to rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that 1.1 billion people between the ages of 12 to 35 years old are at risk of developing hearing loss.
So, why are so many young people in danger of losing their hearing? Although there are numerous causes of hearing loss, such as genetics or side effects of other illnesses, the main culprit is noise-induced hearing loss. In particular, it’s due to the excessive use of headphones and earbuds that are perpetually on the heads of countless young people today.