More teens suffer permanent hearing loss

EDEN PRAIRIE, Min – The noisy world today is easily tuned out as the headphone generation plugs in, often times morning to night.

“I listen to music every day, anything I'm doing,” said Daniela Garcia, an Edina High School senior.

Osseo High School senior Emma Vervair agrees, estimating during the school year she wears headphones up to six or seven hours a day and even falls asleep listening to audiobooks.

Knowing the modern headphone habits of teenagers, Starkey Hearing Technologies launched a new campaign aimed towards young people called "Listen Carefully" to quiet what it calls a new epidemic.

“We are seeing in the MP3 world today is almost 20 percent of kids and teenagers have measurable hearing loss today, for preventable reasons,” said Dr. Dave Fabry, PhD, Starkey Vice President of Audiology.

Dr. Fabry admits you wouldn’t think the country’s largest manufacturer of hearing aids would focus on prevention, but he calls hearing loss a cradle to grave affliction affecting 10 percent of the world’s population.