How Loud is too loud?

Unfortunately, with current technology, we are unable to regenerate the tiny hair cells inside the inner ear which are affected by excessive noise exposure. If the hair bundles are damaged the most common complaint is a loss of hearing clarity which would be most noticeable in the presence of background noise or in group situations. Often, a person's partner or family will be the first to comment about an individuals loss of hearing clarity. Luckily, we live in the age of digital hearing aid technology, which allows hearing aids to be made very small so they are not noticeable to anyone but the user. In addition, digital hearing aids help to overcome the problem of hearing clearly in the presence of background noise (which was a very common complaint with older technology).

In addition to noise induced hearing loss, another common symptom of noise exposure is tinnitus (ringing in the ears). If an individual is diagnosed with tinnitus, and medical intervention has been ruled out, then they can seek significant help via Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). Briefly, TRT utilizes both in-depth counseling and the use of tiny noise generators to train the brain to "tune-out" to the tinnitus signal. We tune out to sounds everyday such as refrigerator motors, and traffic noise, therefore there is no reason why we cannot tune out to a tinnitus signal.

Musicians who have previously attempted to protect their ears against excessive noise have often used foam earplugs which are not suitable to their needs, which is not surprising considering that they are designed for people who are working in factories and with heavy machinery. The most common complaints from musicians who wear foam plugs are:

• They reduce too much sound, therefore compromising the music sound quality
• They can make the person's own voice sound too loud or "booming"
• Can be difficult to insert
• They provide an uneven sound reduction, that is, they give more reduction to high frequency sounds than they do for low frequency sounds

Therefore, specially designed hearing protection that eliminates the above problems associated with standard foam ear plugs have been developed. These musicians ear plugs are suitable for anyone who enjoys listening to or playing music.

Western Hearing Services works closely with both the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) and the Leederville TAFE Music Department, to educate and provide hearing protection to professional musicians. It is critically important to a professional musician that they protect their ears against noise induced hearing loss, as they rely on their hearing acuity for a successful career in music.

To find out more about hearing protection for musicians, noise induced hearing loss or tinnitus retraining therapy, please contact us on 1800 622 121