Too much partying can damage your hearing

You may love going to pubs and discotheques, but a United Kingdom charity is warning that it can take as little as a single night of listening to loud music to damage your hearing.

Music played in concerts, bars and clubs is often above the level of 85 decibels, which is harmful.

The charity RNID states that the hearing of a staggering nine out of ten young people is affected after a night out.

It also points out that though earplugs can protect youngsters' hearing, without spoiling their appreciation of music, their unappealing look discourages the youth from wearing them.

RNID conducted a survey of young people aged 16-30, and found a third thought ear plugs looked silly, and they would not be caught wearing them.

Donna Tipping, from the RNID, revealed that a slight buzzing in the ears, dullness and flatness of sound, and in some cases a more persistent ringing were the first signs of hearing damage.

"They will go away after a little while, but if you keep exposing yourself to loud music repeatedly you will cause damage to your hearing over time," the BBC quoted her as saying.

Added audiologist Angela King: "If you are in the sort of noise level that you get in a busy street, where you have to raise your voice to talk to somebody, you would have to be in that sort of noise for a long time, most of the working week on a regular basis, for it to be a real risk to hearing.

"But in clubs you can get noise levels over 100 decibels, and you can only safely be in that sort of noise level for less than two hours a week."