Charlie Bierstetel, Pewamo: "Ah any kind of earbud, or pretty much, I'd have to say earbuds, because I get more sound out of the earbuds."

He says his friends feel the same.

Charlie Bierstetel: "They have MPCS and stuff, they think the earbuds are cooler 'cause they're better then having clunky headphones and stuff like that."

But what young Charlie doesn't know yet, is that they can cause hearing loss. Research at Northwestern University says MP3 users for example listen to music at 110 to 120 decibels. That can cause hearing loss in about an hour. It's because earphones like these that go into the ear canal, boost the sound and cause the damage."

We asked Audiologist Roger Hughes what to do about it.

Rogers Hughes, Audiologist: "The safest thing to do is try to limit the hours of use and try to turn the volume down."

Sound damage happens here in the inner ear.

Rogers Hughes: "As the damage starts to accumulate to the hair cells in the inner ear, it becomes a permanent situation and it's not always readily apparent in the beginning."

So hughs says the parents of young listeners should get their child's hearing tested.

Rogers Hughes: "It'll give us a base line, it'll tell us at this point what their hearing is like, and if they have their hearing tested regularly, at least we can see if there's a pattern."

6 News told Charlie about the risk associated with ear phones that go inside the ear, he got the message loud and clear.

Charlie Bierstetel: "I think I might actually get these I'm thinking. Yeah I probably will."

By WLNS News 6
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=4279177&nav=0RbQ