Today, we see many young people wearing headphones or earbuds everywhere. They are becoming very popular. However, a report from the BBC suggests noise-cancelling earphones could lead to hearing problems. The BBC interviewed doctors and hearing specialists at five UK hospitals. The doctors told the BBC that many young patients are finding it more difficult to process sounds. The patients say they can hear sounds, but they're not sure where they are coming from. The doctors say noise-cancelling earphones could be the problem.
Dr Renee Almeida, an audiologist at a college in London, said more and more young people are complaining about poor hearing. She said people need to hear many kinds of sounds. This is to help us focus on and decide which sounds are important. Our ears must filter out unimportant sounds. Dr Almeida said: "There is a difference between hearing and listening. We can see that listening skills are suffering." Another audiologist said we can "forget" to hear important sounds, like cars beeping. She said headphones may cause problems in hearing spoken words.
Try the same news story at these levels:
Headphones - Level 0, Headphones - Level 1 or Headphones - Level 3
Sources- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkjvr7x5x6o
- https://nypost.com/2025/02/17/health/doctors-link-noise-canceling-headphones-to-rising-brain-condition/
- https://www.ndtv.com/feature/are-noise-cancelling-headphones-causing-hearing-issues-in-young-people-report-reveals-7736886
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