CLEVELAND — Headphone-related hearing loss has become a growing concern and an audiologist at Cleveland Clinic is explaining how to protect your ears.

The CDC says exposure to sounds more than 85 decibels, such as headphones at maximum volume, can cause irreversible hearing loss.

"When you're talking about listening through headphones, it's all about how loud you listen, but also how long," Valerie Pavlovich Ruff said. "There's a relationship between the volume of the sound and the length of the exposure. So you can listen through headphones safely, but you definitely have to learn how to do that."

Pavlovich Ruff is an audiologist at Cleveland Clinic. She says it's generally recommended that people follow the 60-60 rule: set the volume on headphones or earbuds at 60% for about an hour.

After that, it's best to take a break for 10 or 15 minutes. Doctors say that break is still necessary even at lower volumes because it's not healthy to block ear canals for long periods of time.

Pavlovich Ruff says the danger of having something continually blocking the ear is that moisture can build up in the ear canal, which can become a breeding ground for bacteria and lead to ear infections.

She also says hearing loss from headphones can be permanent and suggests that anyone experiencing muffled hearing or ringing in the ears should talk with an audiologist.