Musicians rely on sound, so hearing loss can be a major burden on their passion. Due to their constant exposure to loud environments, they also face higher levels of hearing damage. To avoid permanently damaging your hearing (hearing damage is as permanent as it gets!), it’s essential that musicians take steps to mitigate the risks.
Professional Audiology can help by first determining where your hearing is currently at. Then we’ll develop a plan to make sure you don’t lose the one sense that is crucial to any musician's career.
A concert can be a lot of fun, but it can also be quite dangerous for your hearing health. When measuring in decibels, an average concert ranges between 90dB and 120dB. For a frame of reference, a quiet room will sit around 40dB and loud traffic will be around 85dB.
Every 3 decibels represent a doubling in power. At 88dB, the recommended limit to daily exposure is 4 hours. So 91dB is 2 hours, 94dB is 1 hour and so on. If the average concert noise level is 105dB, the recommended limit of exposure would be less than 30 seconds!
This isn’t to say that you should never go to or perform at a concert. It means that you should always be prepared with protection, such as specially designed earplugs or in-ear monitors.
There are several different ways that your hearing can be affected through music-induced hearing damage. It’s not as simple as just hearing a lower volume all the time. It can alter and distort the sounds you hear, making it difficult to create and perform music.
This is typically a partial loss in your ability to hear sounds. For musicians, this usually affects higher-frequency sounds first.
A general lack of clarity in what you can hear, with sounds (particularly speech) blurring together.
A ringing, buzzing or hissing sound that is ever-present and likely permanent. While some treatments do exist, there is no known cure for tinnitus
A condition where each ear hears sound at different pitches. Besides being disorienting, this can be quite disruptive for musicians as one note will be heard as two.
Hearing is downright essential for musicians. This is why it is so important to act early to prevent any possible hearing damage. Luckily there are many ways you can ensure that the risk of future damage is brought down to a minimum.
Custom earplugs are molded to fit your ears perfectly. They allow you to enjoy an authentic sound while keeping the volume at a safe level. With interchangeable filters, you can make sure your listening experience is perfectly tailored to your needs.
In a loud concert environment, it can be near impossible to hear yourself perform. In-ear monitors solve this problem. They provide protection from hearing loss while also allowing you to listen to your music and voice with clarity while you are performing.
Just like earplugs, Professional Audiology creates custom-fitted molds for your in-ear monitors. These can increase the overall quality and listening experience considerably.
If you want to avoid hearing loss, you’ll need to be proactive. A good way to start is by getting a hearing test and determining your baseline, which essentially provides a starting point that you can compare to in the future.
At Professional Audiology, a hearing evaluation includes detailed examinations of your middle and inner ear. Through these examinations, our audiologists and hearing care specialists will be able to determine what the best method of hearing loss prevention will be for your specific case.
If you want to protect your hearing from the loud environments frequented by musicians, then a pair of silicone earplugs just won’t cut it. Book an appointment for a hearing test with Professional Audiology to ensure your hearing remains healthy.
Visit Professional Audiology Clinic at our central Edmonton or Sherwood Park locations!
Edmonton - Hys Centre
11010-101 Street NW, Unit #107
Sherwood Park – Emerald Hills Office Tower
8005 Emerald Drive, Unit #827 (second floor)
Evening appointments available.