[302] in Humor
HUMOR(?): Aerobics May Damage Hearing
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (abennett@MIT.EDU)
Tue May 31 14:45:42 1994
From: abennett@MIT.EDU
Date: Tue, 31 May 94 14:40:28 EDT
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Just too weird to pass up...
-Drew
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- The body may benefit at the ears' expense
during aerobics classes.
Professor Raymond Hull, director of Wichita State University's
Speech-Language-Hearing Clinics, measured sound levels at randomly
selected health clubs in five states and found that almost all the
music consistently was louder than 90 decibels, and about
two-thirds was above 110 decibels.
Some even reached 124 decibels, Hull said.
Repeated exposure to 100-decibel noise can cause permanent
hearing damage, and just a few minutes at 120 decibels can cause
damage, he said.
``It's very insidious,'' Hull said. ``It happens slowly over
time, and eventually it's too late.''
Hull presented his findings last month at a conference of the
American Academy of Audiology.
Hull, who measured sound levels at clubs in Colorado, Kansas,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, said the idea for the study came from
personal experience. He was enrolled in classes at his health club
that included extremely loud music.
``When I asked the instructor to turn down the music a little,
she looked at me strangely,'' he said.
He suggested earplugs if the music cannot be turned down.
