PETE TOWNSHEND, the lead guitarist of the rock band the Who, warned the iPod generation to turn down the volume this week.

His advice came as he revealed that increasing deafness may force him to retire. (Or perhaps they could just rename the band, the What.) He attributes this not to the record-breaking loudness of the Who’s concerts, but to studio headphones worn during years of recording. This is especially worrying news for parents, particularly those whose youngsters seem to be surgically attached to their iPods.

It seems common sense that if you can hear the irritating “tsk tsk tsk” of a cymbal line from half a train carriage away then it must be damaging the ears of the headphone wearer it is coming from.

Interest in exposure to social, as opposed to industrial, noise as a preventable cause of deafness has increased over the past ten years, as regulation has led to a decline in noise at work. As yet, however, there is no robust long-term scientific data which proves that social exposure causes deafness.

What is clear, however, is that in young people who are excessively exposed to loud music there is a fourfold increase in the incidence of tinnitus, a noise that people hear in their ears or head, which is associated with hearing loss. The cumulative effect of loud noise is damage to the specialised hair cells in the inner ear that are essential to hearing. These are not repaired in adults, so damage is permanent. Even though our hair-cell provision is extremely generous, continual loud noise exposure may deplete this reserve, making us more sensitive to the effects of ageing in later years.

Hair-cell damage is not the only consequence of decibel overload. Townshend’s plea coincided with the publication of research, from Ohio State University, suggesting that years of repeated exposure to loud noise increases the likelihood of a type of benign tumour called an acoustic neuroma, which also leads to hearing loss.

The difficulty in separating child from headphone is not just that hearing loss when you’re 60 seems a whole lifetime away. Human beings seek out loud music because it is stimulating and we like it. So, the trick is not just to insist on the volume being turned down — the cry of the terminally uncool and ignored parent — but to insist on frequent breaks to allow the ears time to recover. Having periods of less noise also allows you to appreciate loud noise better.

The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) website, www.dontlosethemusic.com, has advice and a telephone- hearing test:0845 6005555.