Why Do Musicians Need Special Hearing Protection?

Hearing protection is needed for different reasons, and different professions and job roles will need it more than others. In certain careers, you may find that you are exposed to a lot of loud noises, music or surroundings for a prolonged period of time. This level of exposure to loud noises can cause noise-induced hearing loss. This is where you start to experience hearing loss from constant exposure to loud surroundings. The hearing loss can come on gradually and you may not even notice it at first.

Hearing Loss

When you start to experience hearing loss it can affect you in a variety of ways. You may find that you start asking people to repeat themselves a lot as well as misunderstanding what was said often. This can be very frustrating; you may find it is a lot worse when you are trying to listen to others in noisier settings or if the TV or radio is on too loud for you.

Tinnitus

Hearing loss can also cause balance issues where you may struggle with balance and experience dizziness alongside other conditions which are caused by underlying conditions like hearing loss, this is something like tinnitus. Tinnitus is an underlying symptom where you experience different noises deep in your ear that only you can hear, this could be a high-pitched noise or clicking as well as lots of other different noises. This can be very frustrating and can affect your day-to-day life. Some have also mentioned about it is affecting their focus and sleep.

So, professionals like musicians are constantly around noise, from practicing, listening back, editing and being in noisy places like studios. Not to mention if they perform concerts themselves, they will be smack bang in the middle of where all the very loud music and noises are. Some musicians will do concerts every day for months and this level of overexposure can cause hearing issues down the line.

Hearing Protection 

Hearing protection will certainly help and be able to have some prevention in relation to the hearing loss that occurs. One of the best ways to have hearing protection in these situations is to wear earplugs. These are widely accessible; you can buy them online as well as buying in bulk so they will last a long time. The standard ones can sometimes cause ear infections so you can also look to get the customized ones. You can get these from your audiologist, and they are perfectly molded to your ear so that they are more effective, more comfortable and less likely to cause infections.

Musicians also rely on their hearing and how they interpret music to further their career so looking after their hearing and preventing hearing loss is very important to them. Another great way to help prevent things is by seeing an audiologist regularly, even annually. As musicians are at higher risk for noise-induced hearing loss having regular screenings is a great tool. Your audiologist can also give great tips and advice.