It has affected my family. My kids got iPods for Christmas and ever since I’ve been saying turn it down! Turns out I may be right.

Our experiment begins at the northeast YMCA, where people get pumped -- and pump up the volume. They wipe sweat with one hand and crank up the tunes with the other. It's the perfect place to test for dangerous decibels.

Lindsay Hatteberg, 19, sings along as she works out. “You gotta have the right music.”

The better the song, the higher the volume and that's where people young and old are paying the price.

"We are seeing younger and younger people with hearing loss." John Callahan, our hearing specialist, puts headphones on Lindsay to see if she can hear certain pitch noises.

The ability to hear higher frequency sounds is the first to go with noise-induced hearing loss. At 19, you would expect the results to be good but there is one red flag.

"It does show a little notch that it's starting to bother," Callahan tells Lindsey.

A word of warning if Lindsey is listening.

Gloria Murray, 57, got a clean bill of hearing.

Brian Fingerson says hearing problems are why he doesn't wear anything when he works out. He says hanging out with musician friends years ago cost him some hearing -- he may be right.

And finally, we tested Beth Williams, who works out four times a week while listening to music. She cranks the volume about halfway.

Beth is 33 years old and not expecting what she hears.

“You are showing some signs of hearing loss,” John tells her.

A decibel meter will give us a better idea of how loud her music is. It measures 87 decibels.

We need some decibel perspective. A lawnmower is about 90 decibels, only three decibels louder than Beth’s iPod.

Beth is stunned to hear her level compares to that of a lawnmower. About two hours listening at that level can cause damage.

“I need to turn my music down,” Beth says.

And even though you may be tempted to pump up the volume, our expert says resist and set the volume around a third of the maximum output, which is plenty loud and plenty safe.

So for your hearing are old-fashioned headsets better for you or these newfangled earbuds?

Theoretically, ear buds are better because they fit deeper and block out ambient noise, so you don't have to pump up the volume, but make sure it's a good fit, or get a custom mold.

Parents, if you're worried about the volume, Apple offers new software that helps you set a maximum level on your child's iPod.

By Rachel Platt
http://www.whas11.com/medical/stories/WHAS11_TOP_HearingLoss.15f6d02f.html