ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Hearing aids are more accessible in the New Year across the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration recently made the change to allow for the devices to be sold over the counter. 

It's coming at a potentially vital time as more people than ever are at risk of hearing loss.

According to the World Health Organization, 1.5 billion people around the globe are living with hearing loss. The WHO says that number could rise to over 2.5 billion by 2050.

After spending his life around music, Phil Amitrano might be one of them.

He studied music in college and played in bands before becoming an electronic music DJ. 

But spending all that time on stage by speakers is catching up to him. 

“When I was a young kid I played the cello [and] moved onto the guitar,” Amitrano said. “Do I have hearing loss? I don’t know, maybe a little bit.”

At the Rochester Hearing and Speech Center, that’s what doctors are trying to avoid. 

"One of the misconception misconceptions is that hearing loss is an old person condition, but hearing loss doesn't discriminate,” said the director of audiology at Rochester Hearing and Speech Center, Dr. Gregory Horton.

Doctors say listening to earbuds and being surrounded by loud noises can lead to noise-induced hearing loss.

Horton says there is something you can do to prevent hearing loss.

“The 8090 rule, and that basically said that people shouldn't be listening to their personal devices with earphones for more than 90 minutes a day at more than 80% of the volume on their device,” Horton said.

It’s something Amitrano plans to keep in mind, next time he’s on stage or just playing at home.

Horton says that with more people working at home since the pandemic they're using headphones to communicate.

In that case, he says people should be using over-the-ear headphones and not in-ear buds as another way to hopefully avoid hearing loss.