Millennials and Gen Z readers may be shook to learn that throwing shade at Boomers with chonky hearing aids is no longer cool. Hearing tests are not adulting concerns for the future: according to American Hearing and Audiology, 10% of Millennials (people now in their 40s and 30s) and 17% of Gen Z (people in the 20s and late teens) suffer from some form of hearing loss.

Dr. Anna Strange, AuD, said she smiles when she sees little kids with big, noise blocking headphones at outdoor concerts or street festivals, and not just because they’re so cute.

“I love that their ears are protected, but it’s ironic because their parents should have the same level of protection for their hearing,” she explained.

Dr. Strange owns Berrie’s Hearing & Optical Center, with locations in Brunswick and Gardiner. She and her colleagues, Dr. Richard Bothfeld, AuD, and Dr. Abbey Forcier, AuD, shared why and when young-ish adults need to start checking their hearing.

Why the increase in young adult hearing loss?

For people over 50, hearing loss is often caused by presbycusis, age-related changes in the ear or auditory nerve. This natural process can be exacerbated by hereditary factors, head injuries, illnesses or infections, some prescriptions, circulatory problems and of course, excessively loud noise.

For people under 50, being around excessive noise is the main culprit of early onset hearing loss. The National Council on Aging defines excessive noise as “85 decibels (dB) or louder for an extended amount of time, like using a leaf blower for two hours without ear protection.”

But Millennials and Gen Z don’t use leaf blowers—they know to leave the leaves until spring for insects. So, what about blasting a true crime podcast at full volume out of your AirPods? Or spending an earplug-free weekend at Coachella? Those situations can be just as bad.

The shift to digital music, games, and streaming TV or movies has increased the amount of time people are using headphones or ear buds for entertainment. They deliver unregulated sound right to the sensitive parts of your ear.

Then, it’s not just concerts that will leave your ears ringing: sporting events, bars and hot new restaurants are often designed to be loud and can hammer us with advanced sound amplification technology.

How to save your hearing

It takes concerted awareness and effort to change our listening habits, but staying away from excessive noise isn’t rocket science—which is good, because according to NASA, a rocket launch can hit 200 dB, or 80 dB higher than the human threshold for pain.

Here are some tips to get started.

• Wear hearing protection. If you have a noisy job or like noisy activities, you must get earmuffs or earplugs. “Inserted earplugs keep the sound out better than earmuffs,” said Dr. Bothfeld, “but any hearing protection is better than none.”

As a musician, Dr. Bothfeld understands not wanting to listen to muffled sound at a concert, so he recommends off-the-shelf musician’s earplugs, that have a flat attenuation. As an audiologist, Dr. Bothfeld has designed earplug sets for musicians, one to fully dampen sound during rehearsal, and another with low attenuation to hear subtle cues during a performance.

• Know the 60/60 rule. Device levels should be at 60% volume and listening on headphones should be 60 minutes maximum before taking a break. Most devices now have a “headphone safety” feature so you can set a limiter below 80 dB.

• Adjust your TV sound system. How many times have you turned up the sound of a movie or baseball game, only to be blasted out of your seat by a much louder commercial? Dr. Strange sees patients who use their TV’s weak internal speakers, instead of a separate sound system. On top of turning on the captions—which real Millennials have already done—she recommends investing in a high-quality sound bar.

Stop the stigma

Both Drs. Strange and Bothfeld attribute the stigma of hearing aids to personalities rather than a particular generation. Dr. Strange described a 90-year-old patient who was concerned what her friends would think of her hearing aids, as well as folks under 40 who have self-assessed their need for hearing help.

The staff of Berrie’s Hearing & Optical pose at their Gardiner office. Left to right: office coordinator Serena Bazinet, Dr. Richard Bothfeld, Dr. Anna Strange, Dr. Abbey Forcier, office coordinator Erica Brown and optician Erin Hall.

But hearing loss does not discriminate and can impact any person’s social life the same way: imagine being at a bar with friends and missing the punchline over the noise; not noticing someone calling your name from across the street; or, worse, not hearing your partner trying to get your attention from across the room.

While advanced technology can be a source of hearing harm, it is also the source of hearing help. When someone takes the first step to get their hearing tested, the audiologists at Berrie’s Hearing & Optical Center focus on their patients’ needs, listening to the specific problems they are encountering and finding the best solution for their unique anatomy and lifestyle.

Dr. Richard Bothfeld, Dr. Anna Strange and Dr. Abby Forcier can be found at 312 Water Street in Gardiner at Berrie’s Hearing Center or 86 Maine Street in Brunswick at Berrie’s Hearing & Optical.