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With the proliferation of smartphones, portable gaming systems and media players, more children - especially teens - are listening to earbuds and headphones at dangerously high volume levels. Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt offers tips for parents and teenagers to help prevent long-term hearing loss.

Hearing loss now affects 20 percent of U.S. adolescents ages 12-19, a 5 percent increase over the past 15 years, according to a study led by Vanderbilt University [Journal of the American Medical Association, 304 (7): 772-78]. Another study by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association found that teenagers typically listen to devices at a louder volume than adults, and these teens already have symptoms of hearing loss.

Listening to devices at levels over 80 dB for extended periods of time is potentially dangerous, reports Kristina Rigsby, AuD, a pediatric audiologist at the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center. Prolonged exposure to high volume exhausts the auditory system, and over time the hair cells in the ear start to degenerate because they are not receiving proper blood flow and oxygen.

Credit: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Those who listen to devices at high levels and for long periods of time are putting themselves at risk for hearing loss, she said. "Hearing loss is permanent, so once the damage is done, there's no getting it back."

If parents can hear sound coming from their child's headphones while they are wearing them, it's too loud, Dr. Rigsby said. A good rule of thumb is the "60/60 rule," which means using only 60 percent of the volume level of a device for no more than 60 minutes at a time. After 60 minutes users should give their ears a break for at least an hour.

Another suggestion is for parents to invest in high-quality, noise-cancelling headphones that cover the entire ear. Earbuds allow more background noise to seep in, so children often turn up the volume to compensate.