You should be paying attention to your hearing health now

Hearing loss is one of those things many people consider a “future me” problem. We might feel a pang of regret at youthful indiscretions — looking at you, music-lovers who used to stand directly in front of the 10-foot amps “to hear the band better” — but we’d rather not think about the consequences until time absolutely demands it.

But there’s growing evidence that hearing loss is becoming more common than before, and that it’s increasingly affecting younger people. And like many other aspects of health, there’s value in addressing hearing loss sooner with both preventative measures and interventions that preserve quality of life.

A 2021 World Health Organization report found that over 1.5 billion people worldwide currently experience some degree of hearing loss — by 2050, that number could grow to 2.5 billion. More alarmingly, the report says, 1.1 billion young people are at risk of permanent hearing loss. The cause? Listening to music at loud volumes over prolonged periods of time, particularly with headphones.

Many people don’t realize their daily listening habits pose a risk to their hearing health. According to the Centers for Disease Control, close exposure to very loud noises of 120 decibels (dBs) and above — for example, a siren or a firecracker — can cause immediate hearing damage. But more common, says the CDC, is cumulative hearing loss: the result of longer periods of exposure to lower-level noise. With prolonged exposure, it only takes about 70 decibels and up to damage hearing. You’re exposed to that level of sound more often than you might think.

Take your average morning: Blow-drying your hair — that’s about 80 dBs, right in your ear. Blending your morning smoothie, another 80 dBs. Walking through city traffic (70 dBs), past a jackhammer (130 dBs). The subway screeches into the station: 90 dBs. Listening to a podcast on headphones at near-max volume so you can hear it over said screeching: about 110 dBs. By the time you arrive at work, the average city-dweller has endured a cacophony that makes the open-plan office (60 dBs of background hum, give or take) seem library-quiet by comparison.

The WHO estimates that over 50% of people between the ages of 12 and 35 routinely listen to music with their personal audio devices at volumes that pose a risk to their hearing. That means significant portions of Generation Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials would do well to think about their hearing now, or risk reaching their “sorry, say again?” era long before older generations.

The effects of untreated hearing loss are profound. The WHO calls it an “invisible disability” that’s long been stigmatized and ignored by policy-makers. That ignorance is expensive — globally, the WHO estimates that unaddressed hearing loss accounts for over $980 billion annually in costs related to health care, education, and loss of productivity.

What’s harder to quantify is the psychological impact of hearing loss. Hearing is, after all, at the core of how humans connect, communicate, learn, and experience music and other forms of art. In children, hearing loss can make speech and language development more difficult. In adults, untreated hearing loss has been associated with a higher risk of ailments like depression and dementia. For many, hearing loss is a distressing and isolating experience, which is why WHO experts recommend making hearing care a global public health priority, with interventions like early hearing screenings, better access to hearing technologies and rehabilitation services, and expanded insurance coverage.

In the U.S., the FDA’s 2022 approval of hearing aids for over-the-counter sale to adults was a big leap forward in making hearing devices more accessible. By 2023, so-called “hearables” were all the buzz at CES as the next big trend in wellness-y wearables. Meanwhile, companies like Eargo — makers of the nearly invisible Eargo 7, an FDA-regulated OTC hearing aid — are bringing style and innovation to a product category that, let’s face it, has never exactly been aspirational.

The Eargo 7 has several key features that may help it appeal to a young adult who still gets carded for beer. It’s tiny (about the size of your thumbnail), nearly invisible when worn, water resistant enough to wear during a sweaty workout, and settings can be easily adjusted via an app. At $2,650, it’s less expensive than many traditional over-ear hearing aids available by prescription, and it’s self-fitting — no office visit or prescription required. Reviewers praise the device’s crisp, well-amplified sound. Niftiest of all, the Sound Adjust+ technology automatically senses your environment and optimizes settings accordingly — for example, emphasizing the clarity of speech in a busy restaurant.

The device is designed for adults with “mild to moderate high-frequency hearing loss” — the kind that can affect people of any age, in which higher-frequency sounds become more difficult to hear. A key symptom of high-frequency hearing loss is speech sounding “muffled” or unclear, especially when talking on the phone, watching television, or in a noisy environment. If you’ve ever planned an early night out so you could better hear your dinner companions, or had your partner give you “the look” when you turn the TV up too loud, you could be experiencing this type of hearing loss. (The company’s online hearing screening, while not strictly for diagnostic purposes, offers a hearing assessment from your computer.)

But if hearing loss is becoming more widespread, and hearing aids are more readily available than ever, it remains to be seen if Millennials, the world’s largest generational cohort, are ready to embrace them. After all, the devices are practically a synecdoche for old age, right up there with grunting when you stand up and knowing where to buy strawberry hard candy.

Then again, Millennials and Gen Z have already shown a knack for changing the conversation around disabilities and health in pretty profound ways. They can make an ASL interpreter a viral superstar. They took discussion of mental health from the realm of taboo to casual first-date fodder. If they can make hearing devices better, smaller, more stylish, and easily available, making them “cool” seems like the natural next step.