Music lovers are missing the live music scene. But there is something about the live music scene that we have learned over the years, whether it's through experience or advice on our safety, and that is: wearing earplugs, protecting our hearing when we go out to shows.

So we're used to doing that kind of thing, but in the past year, headphone use and earbud use is going up, especially with people working from home and all the online and Zoom meetings. We were chatting around the office about whether or not that's going to have an impact on our hearing going forward. And we thought all right, we better call up an expert.

Gayla Poling is an audiology researcher at Mayo Clinic who studies and develops diagnostic approaches for the early detection and prevention of hearing loss caused by aging, noise, and other environmental factors.

Every Wednesday morning at 8:30 CST, Jill Riley connects with experts and local personalities for some real talk about keeping our minds and bodies healthy — from staying safe in the music scene, to exercising during a pandemic, to voting and civic engagement. Looking for more resources and support? Visit our friends at Call to Mind, MPR's initiative to foster new conversations about mental health.

Jill Riley: A subject that came up amongst my colleagues recently is wearing earbuds and even wearing over the ear headphones. I don't like the feeling of earbuds in my ears, so I do wear the over over the ear ones, especially when I do the Morning Show. And you know, we were just kind of wondering, are we putting ourselves in danger of hearing loss?

Gayla Poling: This is a great topic and a great question. There's so much we are all learning as we learn how to communicate and listen during this time. And this is this is really bringing a lot to light about how we use our ears. And what I can say to you is that how loud we listen to sounds and for how long both matter. So we really want to think about how we're using our ears all day long, not just for enjoyment and fun things, but for work related things...that might also be enjoyment and fun things too!

Yeah, I listen to a lot of music through my headphones. I wear over the ear headphones when I do the show, when I'm doing production work...so I probably wear headphones more than the average person. But I just wonder, is there a magic number? Is there an amount of time per day that is just too long to have the headphones or earbuds?

Yeah, as with anything we have near our ears, we need to be aware of how loud and how long. And there are lots of general rules of thumb and things out there, but as a general guide, we're looking at things that are over 85 decibels for more than eight hours. So if you think about a typical workday, and that can be a very loud level to listen to your headphones at. Just a little bit of framework there, normal conversation like we're having right now is around 55 decibels. Okay?

I know that I probably have my headphones louder than I need them. You know, how can I be sure that it isn't up too loud? Like what if it just if it feels comfortable, but maybe it's louder than it should be?

Yeah, the environment really matters. So if you imagine staying at home, in a quiet office, on a pristine quiet day, we don't really have to turn up the volume that loud. But if I'm in a noisy environment, and lots of things are going on in the house, or in my workplace, I might try to turn up the volume of those headphones to overcome and mask out all that other noise around me. So that can be increasing my risk too. So not only do we have to worry about how loud the sounds are, that are coming to your ears, but the environment that we're in can also be making us drive those sounds louder. There are lots of tips for how to know it's too loud for you for those headphones.

Yeah, I'd like to know those.

While you're wearing the headphones, or even if you're wearing in ear headphones, you still have to have awareness of the world around you. So for example, if someone is an arm's length away from me, and they have to shout my name in order for me to hear them, that really is too loud. So you really need to for safety and for your hearing health to make sure that you can hear things that are around you and like an arm's length away from you.

I think of going on walks: I'll put on my headphones while I'm listening to a podcast. But there is really a safety concern not just for my ears, but of walking and being aware of my surroundings.

Absolutely. And you can also always measure the sound. So we have lots of accessibility now to sound level meters or sound level measures, either through an app on a device or they're really available in stores too. So you can actually measure how loud the sounds are, so that you have an awareness of it.

Is there an advantage to over ear headphones versus the in-ear? It's just a preference for me because I just don't like the feeling of things in my ears.

There is some work out there that shows that the over the ear headphones offer a little more universal one size fits all. Because we know that ears come in lots of shapes and sizes, both on the outside and on the inside. So when we have the in-ear headphones, finding the right fit can be kind of a challenge. And what I mean by the right fit is, comfort is critical, because you're wearing this all day long. But you also want to be sure that sound is not leaking out. Because the more sound that leaks out, the louder we're pushing up those volume dials. And that, again, is increasing our risk for noise-induced hearing loss.

Yeah. I see a lot of noise cancelling headphones on the market. And to me, it just reads extra price, but it actually has an extra benefit.

Like we said, the environment really matters. But it really depends on what you're using it for. Are you using it for music enjoyment? Are you using it to communicate? And online meetings...you might have different headphones for different uses.

What else should we know about ear care and ear health, you know, especially during this time of need some extra headphone and earbud usage?

We're learning so much about how to communicate and listen in all these new ways. But a thing I like to keep in mind is that our ears really never take a break. They're on 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the time we're born. So they get a lot of use and a lot of wear and tear and they need breaks too. So just as you're going through your day, even if your location is not changing very much. If you take some ear breaks from now on, then that can be really helpful. And making sure that we're turning down the volume rather than drowning out the noises around us that can help keep us at safer listening levels, and protect your ears. You already know everyone knows about hearing protection for loud sounds. And this is a great topic to think about how we can do good hearing health behaviors just in our everyday lives.

What are some maybe early signs that maybe I'm experiencing some hearing loss? And is there anything to do to bounce back or to fix it?

There's always a good opportunity to get your hearing checked if you've never had a hearing test and you're not sure where your hearing is. Getting a baseline of hearing tested by an audiologist is really a key way to know what your hearing is. And then some of the early signs can be things maybe you're changing, I just don't hear the same way I used to, I may be having to ask people to repeat themselves, I might have some ringing in the ears or know I have had some noise exposure from being a musician or working around noise in the past. So all of those factors can actually become more noticeable when we're in sort of more stressful environments. So also just this change in environment and workplace that all of us are going through might bring to light some of these things. So getting your hearing checked is really a good way to get started and what to do next.