Why You Should Protect Your Hearing If You’re a Musician

The life of a musician can be considerably different from most other people. You constantly place yourself in environments that are full of extremely loud noises and sounds. Whether this is the sound of a musical instrument while you practice at home or the sound of a concert as you play to your adoring fans – life can be very noisy!

As a result, there’s one thing that all musicians need to bear in mind; hearing protection. This is something that you really need to start thinking about as it can impact your life if you’re not looking after your ears.

So, bearing that in mind, we’ve created this blog post to help explain why musician ear protection is so essential and can’t be neglected:

Reduce the risk of hearing loss

If you talk to any audiologist, they’ll tell you that a vast majority of their patients are musicians. It’s no coincidence that there’s a massive correlation between hearing loss and people in this profession – or even just amateur musicians that play a lot.

The fact is, you need musician ear protection to help reduce the risk of hearing loss. If you think about the risk factors, then every audiologist will explain that exposure to loud noises for a long time is the number one cause of early hearing loss in adults. As a musician, you will likely be exposed to loud music and sounds for hours a day, multiple times per week. Think about it you’re practicing most days, you may be playing shows once or twice a week – it puts a lot of strain on your ears!

As such, with hearing protection, you put something in place to block out the loud noises and reduce the stress put on your ears. In essence, you use musician ear protection to reduce the decibel levels, which means you aren’t damaging your eardrums or causing issues to the tiny nerve endings in your inner ear. It’s far safer and protects you from hearing loss.

Prevent tinnitus

While hearing loss is the main issue, it’s important to note that musicians are also in the high-risk zone for tinnitus. This is a condition that audiologists treat every day and the main symptom is a persistent ringing in your ears.

Usually, this is caused when you’re around loud sounds for an extended period. It can be more of an annoyance than an actual issue, but you should protect your ears to prevent this condition from occurring!

Avoid perforated eardrums

A perforated eardrum is essentially when this part of your ear bursts and there’s a hole in it. This can cause a great deal of pain, but it will usually heal on its own given time. However, musicians will very commonly deal with this issue – particularly if they play concerts without any ear protection.

The dangerously loud noises from a concert can cause this perforation, leading to a few weeks of soreness and hearing complications. To avoid going through this, you need to protect your hearing at all times!

How can musicians protect their hearing?

Thankfully, there are plenty of options when it comes to musician ear protection devices. At Cosmetic Hearing Solutions, we’re experts in this type of thing. Typically, we recommend two different types of hearing protection that are good for musicians.

Firstly, we have earplugs that are designed for musicians in that they reduce the noise level without entirely blocking out all sounds. So, you can still hear what’s going on around you, but the decibel level has been dramatically reduced to take it to a safe level. You can get these custom-made to fit your ears or you can buy ready-fit ones to save time.

Then, we have in-ear musician monitors (IEMs), which are a more advanced type of ear protection for musicians. Here, you get a great deal of protection from all the loud noises that can hit you as a musician; amplifiers, speakers and crowds. But, the difference between these and earplugs is that you can play your music through IEMs. It’s similar to a set of headphones, but with additional hearing protection. You can clearly and safely hear what you’re playing without having to worry about damaging your ears.

We strongly recommend that all musicians choose at least one type of protective device for their hearing. Otherwise, you’ll just end up with one of the problems mentioned above – if not all three!

To learn more about musician ear protection or to book an appointment with an audiologist today, then please contact us now at (571) 312-7345. Our friendly team will talk you through everything and get you the treatment you need.