Hearing issues affect roughly 50 million Americans. Although technology has greatly improved over the last few decades, unfortunately, hearing problems have also grown.

“We are experiencing an increase in patients coming in for testing,” said Mike Marino, a custom hearing protection specialist and owner of Hearing Lab. “And we are noting that patients are younger.”

Roughly two or three out of every 1,000 U.S. children are born with a hearing issue in one or both ears and at least 1.4 million U.S. kids 18 years or hunger have hearing problems.

According to NWI Times, technology may be playing a serious role regarding hearing issues around the country and the world.

“We have a generation of people who use ear buds on a regular basis,” Marino added. “Ear buds are used for music, videos, movies, even books. The volume level can be a problem for many who don’t realize the impact.”

Jennifer Adams, an audiologist with Ross Hearing, stated that young adults and kids today blast music directly into their ears more often than they converse with their peers. “As a result,” Adams added, “they bombard their ears continuously.”

On the other hand, although technology has the potential to ruin hearing for a younger generation, technology can also contribute to improving hearing for people of all ages.

According to Loud Wire, custom hearing protection technology may help former AC/DC frontman, Brian Johnson, get back on stage.

Johnson was forced out of the band — after decades of touring — due to a high chance of permanently losing all hearing ability. With this new technology, however, he might be back on stage in a few months.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we have something that Brian, and other people, can use to return to the stage without any threat of damage to his hearing within the next six to 12 months,” said Stephen Ambrose of Asius Technologies.

custom hearing protection technology has drastically improved over the years and hearing aid care is better than ever. Although hearing issues are still prevalent with young adults, hearing aids are better suited for their protection and hearing consultants can help improve even the most damaging of issues.