When your favorite song comes on the radio, do you find yourself cranking the volume up? You aren’t on your own. When you pump up your music, you can feel it in your gut. And it’s something you can truly enjoy. But there’s one thing you should know: there can also be appreciable damage done.
The relationship between hearing loss and music is closer than we previously thought. Volume is the biggest issue(this is in regards to how many times per day you listen and how intense the volume is). And many musicians are rethinking how they approach dealing with the volume of their music.
Hearing Loss And Musicians
It’s a fairly famous irony that, when he got older, classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven was hard of hearing. He was only able to hear his compositions internally. There’s even one narrative about how the composer was conducting one of his symphonies and needed to be turned around when his performance was finished because he was unable to hear the thundering applause of the audience.
Beethoven is definitely not the only example of hearing problems in musicians. Indeed, a far more recent generation of rock musicians, all known for turning their speakers (and performances) up to 11–are now going public with their own hearing loss experiences.
From Neil Diamond to Eric Clapton to will.i.am, the stories all seem remarkably similar. Musicians spend a large amount of time coping with crowd noise and loud speakers. Noticeable damage including hearing loss and tinnitus will eventually be the result.
Not a Musician? Still a Problem
You may think that because you’re not personally a rock star or a musician, this may not apply to you. You don’t have millions of cheering fans screaming for you (usually). And you don’t have massive amplifiers behind you daily.
But your favorite playlist and a set of earbuds are things you do have. And there’s the problem. It’s become effortless for every single one of us to experience music like rock stars do, at way too high a volume.
The ease with which you can subject yourself to damaging and constant sounds make this one time cliche complaint into a substantial cause for concern.
So When You’re Listening to Music, How Can You Protect Your Ears?
So, first we need to admit there’s an issue (that’s kind of always the first step, but it’s especially true in this case). Raising awareness can help some people (especially younger, more naive people) figure out that they’re putting their hearing in jeopardy. But there are other (further) steps you can also take:
- Use ear protection: When you attend a rock concert (or any type of musical show or event), wear hearing protection. Your experience won’t be lessened by using ear plugs. But your ears will be protected from additional damage. (And don’t think that using hearing protection will make you uncool because it’s what the majority of your favorite musicians are doing.).
- Manage your volume: Many modern smartphones will alert you when you’re going beyond healthy limits on volume. You should listen to these safety measures if you value your long-term hearing.
- Get a volume-monitoring app: You may not recognize just how loud a rock concert or music venue is. It can be helpful to download one of several free apps that will give you a volume measurement of the space you’re in. This will help you keep track of what’s dangerous and isn’t.
Limit Exposure
It’s rather straight forward math: the more often you put your ears at an increased risk, the more extensive your hearing loss could be later in life. Eric Clapton, for example, has completely lost his hearing. If he knew, he probably would have started protecting his hearing sooner.
Decreasing exposure, then, is the best way to limit damage. That can be challenging for people who work around live music. Ear protection could provide part of an answer there.
But keeping the volume at practical levels is also a smart idea.