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Before they join the ‘wired generation’ – plugged into digital devices that bring music to their fingertips – students are tuning into a program that could save them from permanent hearing loss.

The proliferation of digital devices available today has added to the pervasive dangers posed by loud music at performances, clubs and parties – dangers that are already taking a toll on the hearing of those ignoring a stark message from audiologists: there is nothing you can do to repair hearing loss due to Noise/Music induced Hearing Loss (MIHL). The only effective prescription is prevention.

It’s a message that Rob Eikelboom, Adjunct Professor at UWA’s Ear Science Centre (in the School of Surgery) and a Senior Scientist with the Ear Science Institute Australia (ESIA) is delivering – loud and clear – through the award-winning Cheers for Ears program he helped to develop, along with Health Promotion Coordinator Natalie Leishman.

After more than a decade developing and delivering tele-medicine and tele-health programs that link remote communities with audiologists and specialists, Professor Eikelboom has spent the past few years working on an outreach program to tackle the growing problem of music-induced hearing loss.

With parents, schools and researchers calling for just such a program, the Institute received funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing through their Hearing Loss Prevention Program.

“We initially aimed at reaching some 1,000 Year 5 to 7 students when we launched Cheers for Ears in 2010 but demand has been such that we’ve reached 22,000 at 155 schools, including tailoring some programs for rural and high schools,” says the UWA biomedical engineer.

Professor Eikelboom says that numerous studies have confirmed that young people are listening to dangerously high volumes.

“Cheers for Ears is unique and is probably the only program of its kind in Australia and one of very few worldwide,” says the UWA researcher. “Given the response and the demand, there’s a huge need to expand the program. However funds are limited.

“We’d really like to be ambitious, to take the message to the wider community because most people are just not aware that personal music players (PMPs) can output 106 decibels of sound, a level at which permanent damage may occur after four minutes of exposure. The delicate hair cells in the cochlear are limited and permanently damaged by any form of prolonged exposure. Even what is known as ‘temporary hearing loss’ has now been shown to have a permanent effect.

“We need to let people know that hearing loss is not just a problem for grandma, it’s a problem for young people, but the good news is that there are ways of minimising the risk.

“When we designed the program we knew we’d get the best outcome by addressing young kids who have not yet acquired bad listening habits. We’ve been amazed at how attentive they have been and the extent to which they have carried our message to older siblings and the rest of the family.”

A manikin-based hearing loss simulator with a noise level meter helped to deliver the message in schools, and an Android App that monitors sound levels produced by PMPs has also played its part.

The Institute recently took its fight to protect young ears to cyberspace with the launch of a new interactive online game, Epic Ear Defence, developed with support from Chevron. It is free and can be played on the Cheers for Ears website .

The unveiling of the game came just weeks after Cheers for Ears launched a free mobile app, Safe&Sound, that measures the decibel level of music played by a mobile device and informs users when they are nearing their daily recommended noise exposure limits.

This year Cheers for Ears won the Best Poster Prize at the 2012 Frontiers in Otorhinolaryngology Conference in July and last year the program won the AMA(WA)/Healthway Healthier WA Award.

ESIA Director and UWA Winthrop Professor Marcus Atlas said the program’s game and the app were great examples of the unique approached adopted by the Cheers for Ears team.

“Hearing loss is one of the most common disabilities, costing the Australian economy more than $20 billion a year – once hearing is damaged, it’s gone for good,” said Professor Atlas.

ESIA is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2001. It operates the ESIA Implant and Balance Centres as well as six Lions Hearing Clinics in Perth offering audiological services and rehabilitation options for hearing loss as well as referrals to specialists and investigations into ear disorders.

Published in Uniview Vol. 31 No. 3 Spring 2012