Your hearing is fragile. So don’t listen loudly. Listen carefully. This is the message delivered by Miley Cyrus for the 'Listen Carefully' campaign. Miley Cyrus and the Starkey Hearing Foundation teamed up in order to launch a special campaign meant to spread a little awareness among young people and adults of how important the sense of sound is. Therefore, protect your hearing by lowering the volume!

We all love music. We live it and feel it. And when our favorite song is on, we put on our headphones and listen to it as loud as possible. Still, have you ever thought how your life would be without the possibility to enjoy the sound and the rhythm of a song? Well, you should know that your hearing is fragile and that over time loud sounds destroy the tiny hair cells in the inner ear leading to hearing loss.

In order to make people aware of how important the sense of sound is, Miley Cyrus joined the Starkey Hearing Foundation launching the campaign 'Listen Carefully'.

"As an artist, I want to make sure fans are able to experience the magic of music as it was intended. By just lowering the volume and using the right protection for your ears, hearing loss can be prevented, which means never losing the ability to enjoy the sound of a guitar, a beautiful lyric or a favorite song," the 18-year-old teen star said in a statement.

Between April 4 and June 15 2011, you too can give your support to this campaign and win an extraordinary experience with the 'Listen Carefully Sweepstakes'. The sweepstakes offer you the chance to meet Miley Cyrus and join her for a soundcheck as she prepares for her performance at the Starkey Hearing Foundation’s Annual Awards Gala on July 24 in Minneapolis. On starkeyhearingfoundation.org you can also find online hearing tests, tips on hearing loss prevention, and many interesting facts.

According to the statistics, there was a 31% increase in teen hearing loss over the last 10 years, while right now, one in five teens have noticeable hearing loss and that number is growing. The main objective of the 'Listen Carefully' campaign is to make people familiar with all the negative effects of high-volume sounds in daily life and the importance of protecting our hearing by lowering the volume. This is one simple solution with long-term impact.

"With 6.5 million teens recognized with some level of hearing loss, Better Hearing and Speech Month is a great time for us to inform parents and young people about just how fragile one's hearing is and the need to protect it," said Bill Austin, Chief Executive Officer of Starkey Laboratories and Founder of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. "The majority of teen hearing loss is preventable, and it is our hope that the Listen Carefully campaign, with support from entertainers like Miley Cyrus, can make a difference."

Miley proves to be extremely committed and supportive of this project. The teen star joined the Starkey Hearing Foundation on the mission in Haiti when they distributed hearing aids to all the people who need help. The Foundation delivers more than 100,000 hearing aids through hearing missions in countries stretching from the U.S. to Vietnam. Since 2000, the Foundation has supplied more than 500,000 hearing aids, yet its goal is to distribute over one million free hearing aids in this decade.

Did you know that most cases of hearing loss are slight and they only affect one ear, involving mostly high-frequency sounds? Or, are you aware of the fact that you may not feel the hearing change? According to the American Medical Association many teens don't notice it. About one in 20 have "mild or worsening" hearing loss, thing that can make them struggle to follow conversations or teachers at school.

Controlling sounds is important and by lowering the volume of your headphones you can save your ears. You can enjoy music in so many different ways. Protect your hearing. Lower the volume.

To learn more about this campaign visit www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org