You're listening to LifeKid from NPR.

Hey everybody, it's Mariel.

So a couple of weeks ago our producer Margaret Serino

went to this techno concert with a friend.

They were pumps.

So when we got there, we squeezed all the way up to the front,

like right next to the loudspeakers and stayed there the whole time.

And my friend brought her earplugs and I left mine at home,

classic mistake.

And I was like, oh, this will be fine, it's like one night.

She was only there for a few hours, but the whole next day,

everything sounded muffled.

If you've ever gone to a concert and you come out and maybe your ears

are ringing or there's a muffled feeling,

that is how hearing loss happens.

That's Barbara Kelly, Executive Director of the Hearing

Loss Association of America.

There are all these public health messages that we have memorized.

You know, buckle your seat belts, we're sunscreen.

But we don't tend to think about hearing the same way, at least not yet.

Margaret took a personal interest in this topic after the concert.

So on this episode of LifeKid, which she reported,

...