This Familiar Affliction For Music Lovers Can Be Prevented

Do you crank the volume up when your favorite song comes on the radio? Lots of people do that. There's something intuitive about pumping up the music. And it's enjoyable. But, here's the thing: it can also result in some considerable harm.

In the past we weren't aware of the relationship between hearing loss and music. That has a lot to do with volume (this is in regards to how many times per day you listen and how excessive the volume is). And many musicians are rethinking how they approach coping 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 could only 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 at the end of the performance because he couldn't hear the thundering applause of the audience.

Beethoven is definitely not the only instance 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–have begun to go public with their personal hearing loss experiences.

From Eric Clapton to Neil Diamond to will.i.am, the stories all seem amazingly similar. Musicians spend a large amount of time coping with crowd noise and loud speakers. Significant damage including tinnitus and hearing loss will eventually be the result.

Not a Musician? Still an Issue

You might think that because you aren't personally a rock star or a musician, this might not apply to you. You're not playing for large crowds. And you don't have huge amplifiers behind you daily.

But you do have a set of earbuds and your favorite playlist. And there's the problem. It's become easy for each one of us to experience music like rock stars do, way too loud.

The ease with which you can expose yourself to harmful and continuous sounds make this one time cliche grievance into a considerable cause for concern.

So How Can You Protect Your Ears While Listening to Music?

So, first we need to admit there's an issue (that's usually the first step, but it's especially true in this case). Raising awareness will help some people (particularly younger, more impressionable people) figure out that they're putting their hearing in danger. But you also should take some further steps too:

• Wear earplugs: Use earplugs when you go to a concert or any other live music event. Your experience won't be lessened by using ear protection. But they will safeguard your ears from the most severe of the damage. (And don't assume that using hearing protection will make you uncool because it's what most of your favorite musicians are doing.).
• Control your volume: Many modern smartphones will alert you when you're going beyond safe limits on volume. You should adhere to these warnings if you value your long-term hearing.
• Download a volume-monitoring app: You are probably unaware of the actual volume of a rock concert. It can be beneficial to download one of a few free apps that will give you a volume measurement of the space you're in. This will help you monitor what's dangerous and what's not.

Limit Exposure

It's rather straight forward math: you will have more serious hearing loss later in life the more often you put your hearing at risk. Eric Clapton, as an example, has entirely lost his hearing. If he knew, he probably would have started protecting his ears sooner.

The best way to minimize your damage, then, is to lessen your exposure. That can be difficult for individuals who work at a concert venue. Ear protection could offer part of a solution there.

But keeping the volume at sensible levels is also a good idea.