As Tinnitus Awareness Week draws to a close, anyone going to see live music this weekend should be aware of the dangers loud concerts can do to their hearing.
Nothing beats the thrill of seeing your favourite band up close, but live music is usually played loud and the thundering bass lines and banks of speakers throwing out sound can play havoc with your hearing. If you’re not careful, you could end up with tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a ringing or whooshing in the ears caused by exposure to loud noise with music being one of the ways the condition develops. Around one in 10 of the UK population – or six million people – suffer from it and those affected talk of difficulty sleeping and focussing on tasks. There is no cure or effective treatment at present.
Those who work in bars and clubs are exposed to continuous loud noise as a result of their work – gigs are sometimes a weekly or even daily occurrence at many bars and clubs across the country. Some of the world’s biggest rock and pop stars are afflicted with tinnitus, including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, singer Plan B and 80s star Gary Numan are well-known suffers, while Who guitarist Pete Townshend has called off tours in the past because of bouts of tinnitus caused by years of playing live on stage.
One way you can protect your hearing when listening to live music is to wear earplugs. Small, unobtrusive earplugs can take the edge of the volume enough to stop tinnitus becoming a problem. Loud music in nightclubs can cause tinnitus too, so if employers provide their staff with earplugs it will minimise the risk of them developing the condition.
Action on Hearing – a UK Charity helping to promote Tinnitus Awareness Week – recently carried out a study to see if concert goers would do anything different when made aware of the potential hearing hazards. Worryingly, only one in three said they would. This was despite nearly three quarters of them saying they had experienced ringing in their ears or reduced hearing capacity after attending a concert.
David Stockdale, chief executive of the British Tinnitus Association, said: “A lot of people will have been to rock concerts when standing next to the speakers where they get temporary tinnitus – that ringing in the ear – when they walk away.
“But sometimes that can be permanent. People working in loud noise all the time are more likely to develop it.
“Once it’s there, if it becomes permanent, it can be very intrusive and affect your quality of life.”
Tinnitus Awareness Week runs from 2nd February and finishes this Sunday 8th February. A series of events and talks have taken place across the UK, with many still to happen. Hospitals and theatres have hosted guest speakers, open days, tinnitus clinics and awareness afternoons.
To find out what’s happening for Tinnitus Awareness Week in your area, please go to www.tinnitus.org.uk/events-across-the-uk