The world is louder than ever, with one in six of us now suffering from hearing loss. Guy Kelly looks into why If Nicole Russell could turn back the clock, she’d probably turn down the volume, too.
In 2004, when she was seven years old, Russell picked up an Apple iPod, plugged in a pair of the standard white headphones, pressed play, cranked it up, and formed a habit she’d enjoy for ‘at least five hours a day’ for the next decade.
She’d listen in the morning, on the way to school, during break, even as she fell asleep. A few years later, she was in the car – listening to music, of course – with her father, Dave, when he told her to turn the volume down. ‘He was like, “Nicki, what the hell?”’ Russell, now 24, says. ‘It made me so