I remember the first time I truly realized I was no longer a kid. I was out having some drinks with friends when I asked, “Gosh, was the music in this bar always so loud?” You can imagine the eye rolling that ensued. Yes, that was a turning point; the moment I morphed from a cool, loud-music lovin’ kid into the type of person who asks cool kids to turn their darn music down. Well, now I can be smug as well as tragically uncool: New research suggests hearing loss in young girls is on the rise, thanks to, you guessed it, loud music.

The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of Adolescent Health, tested more than 8,000 girls with an average age of 16. The researchers discovered that the girls who suffered high-frequency hearing loss (the part of hearing that makes speech clearer to the listener) also listened to personal music devices for longer periods of time. And a study published two weeks ago estimated that one-fifth of American teens suffer some hearing loss, reports the CBC.

While audiologist Abbey Berg told the CBC that other factors such as substance abuse and poverty might also contribute to high-frequency hearing loss, loud music does play a role. So turn down that loud music! If you can’t have a conversation with someone while you’re listening to your MP3 player, it’s probably too loud.

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