| Love music? Enjoy going to gigs? Like clubbing? A | | | | hearing after 30 minutes. A rock concert hits 110 to 130 |
| survey by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf | | | | decibels, which can damage hearing from just over |
| discovered that 73% of people who have ever been | | | | three minutes to 30 minutes. Prolonged exposure to |
| to a club, gig, concert or festival have had ringing in | | | | these levels over time means you'll be unable to hear |
| their ears after a night out. This is a warning sign that | | | | high frequencies, music will sound muffled and you'll find |
| you've been working your ears too hard, and over | | | | it hard to hear sibilant sounds in speech clearly. |
| time it could cause some lasting damage to your | | | | So what are your choices? Well it means you can |
| hearing. | | | | only go to a gig or club for 15 minutes - not a popular |
| So what happens to the ear when we go to a gig or | | | | suggestion. Alternatively, you can protect your ears |
| clubbing? We hear music as sound waves or | | | | with one of the many discreet and effective |
| vibrations, which are funneled from the outer ear down | | | | music-safe earplugs that are on the market that can |
| the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. On | | | | reduce noise levels by between 20 and 27 decibels. |
| the other side of the drum membrane the three small | | | | These earplugs are specially designed for loud music |
| bones of the middle ear transmit those sound | | | | and will mean you can enjoy nightclubs and concerts |
| vibrations to the inner ear, where the tiny hairs of the | | | | without paying for it the next day, or indeed later in life. |
| cochlea, a snail shaped organ, transmits those | | | | Music professionals such as DJ's, musicians and others |
| vibrations to the brain via the auditory nerve. Loud | | | | who work in close proximity to amplifiers and other |
| noise vibrations can damage the delicate hairs of the | | | | sound equipment need to protect their ears. Pete |
| cochlea, rather like a strong wind bending over a | | | | Townshend of The Who is perhaps one of the most |
| sapling, and you lose some of your hearing, though it | | | | famous cases of a musician who has lost his hearing |
| can recover if you get out of the noisy environment | | | | due to prolonged exposure to excessive noise levels. |
| reasonably quickly. | | | | A Who concert in 1976 was listed in the Guinness |
| Eventually, over a long period of time, hair cells are | | | | Book of Records for having a volume level of 126 |
| permanently damaged and cannot recover. Any kind | | | | decibels 32 metres from the stage! |
| of loud music can cause temporary and eventually | | | | Special musician's earplugs can lower the volume of |
| permanent hearing loss, and the music doesn't have to | | | | the music without distorting the sound, and play a huge |
| be so loud that it hurts. If you can't talk to people about | | | | factor in preventing tinnitus in later years. Specially |
| two metres away without shouting, then your hearing | | | | designed earplugs can make it safer for those |
| is in serious danger. | | | | involved in the music business to do their job and |
| Experts say that prolonged exposure to anything | | | | ensure that both the musician's, DJ's and their fans will |
| about 85 decibels can cause damage. The average | | | | be able rock well into their pension years. |
| nightclub pumps out 110 decibels, which can damage | | | | |