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Topics: Health, Gen Z, Music, Technology
Mia Williams
Experts have seen a 'new rise' in a health issue which they say could be the result of increased use of noise-cancelling headphones.
Several health experts are concerned about the increase of the problem, specifically in young people.
Speaking to the BBC, Claire Benton, vice president of the British Academy of Audiology, noted that the listening skills in your brain only finish developing towards the late teens.
And with young people gaining access to this technology earlier than ever, one disorder in particular is on the rise.
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But it isn't hearing directly that is being affected, doctors have claimed that the problem is with processing information.
Many young people are being diagnosed with auditory processing disorder(APD), a neurological condition that interferes with a person’s ability to process sounds.
And while they may pass a general hearing test with no concern, they may struggle when deciphering different sounds, and processing where a noise is coming from.
Benton said: "You have almost created this false environment by wearing those headphones of only listening to what you want to listen to. You are not having to work at it.
"So if you have only been wearing noise-canceling headphones and been in this false world for your late teens, then you are slightly delaying your ability to process speech and noise."
Even worse is that there is currently no cure for APD.
Instead, the condition can require people to alter their environment, such as having speech therapy, requesting information in writing, and asking people to speak slower.
David McAlpine, the academic director of Macquarie University Hearing, explained how noise-cancelling headphones lead to 'listening loss'.
Speaking to Quartz, he said: "If you have a listening loss, it’s like changing your brain’s encryption.
"Even if you can change what you’re hearing, you may not get back to the brain state that you had before. It’s not reversible."
Speaking about the companies who have created the technology, he added: "I do think that we’ve let the big tech companies co-opt our listening habits, monetise it, and sell it back to us.
"Their solution to the hearing problem is probably creating a listening problem."
While the warning about using headphones at a loud volume has been pushed for a long time, 'listening loss' presents a different way that it can be damaging, instead of affecting just general hearing.