When a loud noise hits your ears, even for a short time, they react with what’s called a temporary threshold shift. Your hearing loses sensitivity, sounds turn muffled and you may notice a ringing in your ears. That ringing is a symptom of inner ear damage called tinnitus.
If you’ve walked out of the Texas Rodeo Saloon and noticed that faint ringing, you’ve experienced tinnitus firsthand. A single episode usually doesn’t cause concern. But musicians who spend a lot of time around loud noise can develop permanent tinnitus, disrupting hearing and interfering with their music.
How Common Is Tinnitus in Musicians?
A 2018 study of symphony musicians revealed that 31% of women and 38% of men experienced at least one episode of tinnitus lasting five minutes or longer at some point in their lives. Even more concerning, 18% of women and 21% of men reported tinnitus severe enough to interfere with their daily activities.
While the study only focused on symphony musicians, tinnitus is common across the music industry. Numbers can vary between different types of music (classical, rock, etc.) and the length of time someone has been creating music.
How Can Tinnitus Interfere With Music?
Musicians rely on clear hearing to tune their instruments and sing, which is why many use specialized ear devices to hear themselves during performances. Ringing in the ears can interfere with this ability, making it difficult to accurately process the sounds around them and potentially affecting their music.
How Can Musicians Protect Their Hearing?
There are a few ways you can protect your ears so you can continue to make music as long as you want:
- Schedule regular hearing tests. Hearing tests allow your doctor to establish a baseline hearing to track changes. While not all hearing loss cases present with tinnitus, approximately 90% of tinnitus cases have an underlying hearing loss.
- Wear earplugs. You can purchase custom earplugs specifically designed for musicians that allow you to hear music clearly without the high volume.
- Limit noise exposure in your daily life. If you’re a musician, you probably listen to a lot of music. Make sure to keep your headphones below 80 decibels to prevent daily damage.
- Stand away from amps. When performing, stand as far away from amps as possible to limit noise exposure.
If you’re a practicing musician, contact Davies Institute for Speech & Hearing to schedule a hearing test and establish safe ear-protection practices to prevent tinnitus.