A few hours of loud music may seem harmless, but repeated exposure to high sound levels can slowly damage the inner ear and leave a person with permanent hearing loss, a doctor has warned.
Head of clinical services, Equity Afya Umoja Dr Risper Wanjeri Irungu said hearing damage often happens gradually, meaning many people may not realise their hearing is being affected until the problem becomes serious.
Speaking during a Radio Generation interview on Friday, Dr Irungu said the danger should not be blamed on headphones alone, saying the level of sound, how often a person is exposed and the amount of time spent listening are the main factors.
“It's not about the headphones; it's about how loud it gets. It's how often you're listening to it. It's the intensity of it. So you find like the longer you listen and the more time you're exposing yourself to, we have some hair cells in the ears, in the inner ear, and that's basically what gets damaged.”
The tiny sensory hair cells are found inside the cochlea, a spiral-shaped part of the inner ear that changes sound vibrations into signals that are sent to the brain.
Dr Irungu compared the delicate cells to grass, explaining that strong and repeated sound vibrations can affect them.
She said the ears can sometimes recover from the effects of loud noise when a person moves away from the source and allows them to rest. However, repeated exposure can eventually cause damage that cannot be reversed.
The warning comes as concern grows over hearing loss, particularly among young people who are regularly exposed to loud music, entertainment venues and noisy workplaces.
More than 1.5 billion people globally, nearly 20 per cent of the world's population, currently live with some form of hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization. About 430 million of them have disabling hearing loss that requires rehabilitation.
The WHO expects the number of people with disabling hearing loss to rise beyond 700 million by 2050.
More than one billion young adults are also at risk of permanent and preventable hearing loss because of unsafe listening habits, according to the organisation.
Africa is also facing a growing burden, with about 40 million people estimated to have disabling hearing loss. The number could rise to 54 million by 2030 and 97 million by 2050 if current trends continue.
In Kenya, the Ministry of Health said in July 2026 that more than one million people are affected by hearing loss.
The ministry also reported progress in early detection, saying 80 newborns had been screened since January, while more than 900 children had been assessed following this year's World Hearing Day.
Dr Irungu said hearing loss can first appear through changes that people may easily dismiss as normal.
These include struggling to follow conversations, failing to hear someone speaking from behind or constantly turning up the volume on a television or radio.
In some cases, she said, people only seek medical help after their hearing has already deteriorated badly.
She urged people to control both the loudness of sounds and the amount of time they spend around them.
“The biggest message, actually, I think I want to tell people is reduce the volume, the volume intensity, reduce the exposure you're getting to.”
The WHO recommends keeping the volume on personal audio devices below 60 per cent of the maximum level and taking regular breaks from loud sounds.
It says exposure to sound at 80 decibels can be safe for up to 40 hours a week, but the safe period becomes much shorter as the volume increases. At 90 decibels, for example, the recommended exposure time drops to about four hours a week.
Normal conversation is estimated at about 60 decibels, while heavy traffic inside a car can reach around 85 decibels. A motorcycle can produce about 95 decibels, while a hair dryer can reach around 100 decibels.
Dr Irungu said the risk is not limited to people listening to music through headphones.
She pointed to machinery, welding equipment, dryers and other industrial equipment as sources of noise that can also damage hearing when exposure is prolonged.
Kenya has regulations aimed at controlling excessive noise and vibration under the Environmental Management and Co-ordination (Noise and Excessive Vibration Pollution) (Control) Regulations.
The rules prohibit loud, unreasonable, unnecessary or unusual noise that may put people's health or safety at risk.
They set different noise limits for residential, commercial, silent and other areas. The regulations also provide for an 84 decibel limit for motor vehicles when accelerating and include controls covering machinery, construction, mining, entertainment venues and sound-amplifying equipment.
The National Environment Management Authority says county governments are currently responsible for enforcing the regulations, which provide measures for controlling excessive noise and vibration.
NEMA has also been reviewing Kenya's noise regulations as urbanisation, increased movement, industrialisation and growing economic activity continue to raise noise levels in densely populated areas.
Dr Irungu advised people who work in or spend long periods in noisy surroundings to take regular breaks and protect their ears using earplugs or suitable noise-cancelling headphones.
She also cautioned that noise is not the only cause of hearing loss.
Congenital conditions, infections and some medicines can also affect a person's hearing.
People experiencing persistent ringing in the ears, muffled hearing or difficulty following conversations should seek professional assessment, according to WHO guidance, instead of assuming the changes are simply part of ageing.
Dr Irungu's advice is not for people to stop enjoying music or using technology, but to lower unnecessary sound exposure, limit the time spent around loud noise and give the ears enough time to recover.