Watch out! Loud music or earphones could lead to hearing loss

What's more, it may be a few years until you realise the hearing loss since it grows over a period of time.

"Listening to loud music over long durations on your i-Pod or mobile phone can lead to hearing loss. It is a serious issue because it's progressive and it may be a few years before you realise the effect," Manuj Agarwal, senior audiologist with Amplifon India, a hearing aid company, told IANS.

"Moreover, people adapt to such kind of loss over a period of time; so you don't realise immediately, until it becomes obvious," he added.

Roughly seven per cent of Indians suffer from some kind of hearing impairment.

Priyanka Madhok, consultant in the audiology and speech therapy department of Max Super Speciality hospital in Delhi, explained the science behind this "rising trend" of music-induced hearing loss.

"In a normal conversation, we are exposed to 40-50 decibel sound, which has no harmful effect. However, if the sound level goes beyond 80 decibels for a constant period of even two-three hours, the hearing ability will drop," Madhok told IANS.

Added Agarwal: "If the magnitude of sound is high, then even a few hours of exposure is enough to cause you harm. Ninety decibels for four hours is risky and so is two hours of 100 decibel sound. In airports, the magnitude of sound is 120 decibels; so people working there have to wear ear protection devices."