There aren't many places you can go these days where you won't find a teenager enjoying their favorite music.
Technology has brought them the ear bud, in use with those MP3 players and iPods - little tiny speakers that bring big sound to the listener.
Jennifer Morford knows when loud is too loud. She is a clinical audiologist.
"I still tend to listen to my music probably too loud," said Morford. "In the inner ear there are 40,000 inner hair cells, and there one of the few cells of the human body that don't regenerate. A good example would be if you're walking on grass, and if you walk that same path every day, eventually the grass won't spring up," she explains.
Sometimes genetics play a role, and so does environment. But even the industry knows to limit the volume that one person can hear so the music doesn't become hazardous noise.
"The worst case I ever had was a 14-year-old who was the roadie for a group, left home, left school, and was deaf as a post. He had damaged his ears. He was the guy who would run out front and checked the speakers, and here was a kid needing hearing aids at age 14," said Jay Lehman of A& B Hearing.
That was the day the music died for the boy. Once the hair follicles are dead, they never come back.
So Lehman uses state-of-the-art equipment to keep an eye out for people with possible hearing loss, showing them what the world should sound like, and what it could sound like for the hearing impaired.
There is encouraging research that reveals an MP3 player can be cranked up 70 percent for 4 1/2 hours a day, and do little to no damage,but do you want to take a chance by living in the moment and not worrying about your hearing down the road?
"At some point, somebody has to be smart enough to say, 'Gee it's too loud'," said Lehman.
Morford agrees. "Your gut feeling will be correct. If you're having difficulty hearing, there's probably a hearing loss," she added.
If you are worried about how loud is too loud, a good rule of thumb is if parents can hear the iPod music while their teen is using it, then it is too loud.
And if you are concerned that you or your child's hearing has been affected, get checked by an audiologist before it is too late.
