What’s That Ringing In Your Ear?
Concerts, raves, EDM and longterm hearing loss
My friend and I arrive at The Forum arena in Inglewood, California to attend a Thomas Rhett concert. As we enter the bright red building and take our seats along with the other concert goers, we sing along to the hit song the DJ is playing before the show begins. We casually make chit chat, but as soon as the opener comes out on stage, our conversation comes to a halt. We can’t hear each other without leaning in and yelling into each other’s ears. As the show continues, Thomas Rhett saunters on stage to perform with his stage lights and props cueing the music to get louder and louder. Soon, we are singing and dancing and letting the music pulsate through our bodies, quickly forgetting the fact that we cannot hear each other.
Concerts, raves, and various music events are perennial hits among college students, but could these popular diversions be putting students and concert goers at risk for a lifetime of hearing damage? It is predicted that by 2050 some 50 million Americans will have hearing loss due to loud music, from events such as concerts and raves.
Monica Moreno, a junior at Whittier College, who often photographs her brother’s indie and hardcore bands, says, “I go to all kinds of concerts and all different genres. My ears are fuzzy for the rest of the night but are usually okay the next day and don’t hurt.”
How exactly does our hearing work, what are the symptoms of hearing loss, and why do our ears often hurt and feel “fuzzy” after these fun events?
We hear sound and speech through sonic waves, or pressure in the air that is funneled through our ears to our brain. Hearing is complicated and involves both brain processing and the ear itself, which is composed of three main structures: the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The outer ear includes the pinna, which is the part of your ear that you see and it serves to funnel the sound, the auditory canal, and your eardrum, which most people are familiar with because they hear the phrase “don’t blow out your eardrum.”
The middle part of your ear is composed of three small bones called ossicles that amplify sound and send it to the inner ear. Dr. Amanda Lash, an Assistant Psychology Professor at Whittier College who focuses on hearing and audition and has a Speech and Memory Lab on campus says, “It is the inner ear that would be most susceptible to loud volumes.”
The inner ear is made up of the cochlea, a snail-like structure that is full of fluid and has small, hair cells that move the vibrations of sound to the brain. These hair cells are crucial to hearing and once they are damaged, they cannot be replaced since, unlike the hairs on your head, these hair cells in your ears do not regrow. Raves, concerts, and exposure to loud noises, either once or over extended periods of time, can destroy and damage these hair cells which causes hearing loss and hearing loss symptoms. These cells can be severely damaged or killed completely due to loud noise exposure whether it’s a one-time occurrence or extended exposure.
Levels of noise vary and how loud a noise is can be determined by the amplitude, or intensity of sound, which is measured using decibels (dB). To provide perspective, a normal conversation with limited background noise is 65 decibels, while an average concert is between 100–120 decibels. Since a Decibel is a logarithmic and ratio measurement between two numbers, it means that average concerts are 10x as loud as regular conversation. When exposed to noises at 110 decibels, hearing loss can occur after just two minutes of exposure.
Dr. Lash, explains that “the intensity of the volume and duration of the concert can impact [one’s hearing differently] depending on someone’s genetics and biology.”
But imagine how much hearing loss and damage could occur after a two-hour rave or a multi-day festival such as Coachella or Stagecoach? Despite this, college students often forget about the safety of their ears.
“The noise [at a rave concert or festival] is like no other, super loud but super clear and the bass literally moves throughout your body,” says Nicholas Medeiros, a recent Whittier College graduate and frequent rave and Electronic Dance Music (EDM) concert goer. “Your ears usually ring initially after the rave is over and it can ring for the next few hours, but after that it tends to go away.” The ringing Nicholas describes is tinnitus, a common condition whereby people perceive sounds such as a buzzing, ringing or hissing, even though there isn’t an actual stimulus making the sound.
Madison Crimi-DeMichele, a frequent rave attendee says, “Whenever I go from the rave setting to outside and leave the environment, my ears ring the whole entire time from venue, to my car, to bed. [But] I wake up in the morning and my ears are fine.”
Continual exposure to loud noises and frequent tinnitus can lead to noise-induced hearing loss and cause permanent damage to the hair cells in the inner ear. Noise induced hearing loss is a disorder that involves the gradual decline in high frequency hearing due to exposure to loud noises without adequate ear protection and 90 percent of people who have tinnitus also have noise induced hearing loss.
Kim Ortega PhD, a doctor of Audiology at Whittier Hearing Center located in Uptown Whittier, notes that, “There is also acoustic trauma, in which one single exposure to intense noise leads to permanent hearing loss.” She adds that, “If the noise is so intense it causes the tympanic membrane (eardrum) to rupture.
Dr. Ortega says that, “One in six teens have permanent hearing loss due to high-volume sounds” and “teen hearing loss has increased 30 pecent in the last decade… This is attributed to increased and repeated exposure through headphones as well, not just concerts.”
So how do people who love music still protect their ears?
“One in six teens have permanent hearing loss due to high-volume sounds.”
The answer, not surprisingly, is prevention and ear protection. Prevention is the key to saving your hearing because once its lost, you cannot gain it back. Even EDM.com, a leading Electronic Dance Music website, published an article stating that “hearing protection is essential to experiencing electronic music events safely.”
EDM.com says that symptoms of noise induced hearing loss include having to turn the volume up on technology, having difficulty hearing people when in groups or areas with background noise and trouble following normal conversations.
Dr. Lash reminds that, “If [you] have ever felt a tickle in [your] ear or have ever felt the physical vibrations of the sound or any ringing in the ears” then this “all can be signs of dangerous volumes.”
According to Dr. Ortega, another common symptom of hearing loss is “asking people to repeat often because you did not understand what they said.”
The easiest ways to prevent noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus are monitoring the volume and exposure in noisy environments and wearing ear plugs. Most people do not think about prevention until it is too late, including many famous musicions and performers who have tinnitus due to loud noise exposure.
Pete Townshend, a songwriter and guitarist for The Who, which was known for being one of the loudest rock acts, has hearing loss that is attributed to performing and his frequent noise exposure at concerts. He is completely deaf in one ear and has progressive hearing loss and tinnitus in the other ear. Townshend now uses custom in-ear monitors to protect his hearing while her performs.
Despite this, students still underestimate the damage that can occur. When asked if he uses ear plugs at concerts or has ever thought of using them, Tyler Bliss, a fourth-year Whittier College student who attends a variety of raves and country concerts, says he has “never thought of wearing ear plugs” and “[has not] seen a single person with ear plugs.”
Nicholas Medeiros brings up a common misconception regarding ear plugs and concerts. “I have thought about wearing ear plugs and I have seen people do it, but I feel like it takes away from the experience, so I probably never will.”
Although ear plugs seem as if they would jeopardize the experience, some ear plugs are specifically made to not hinder music clarity and quality. High- fidelity music earphones are better than common foam ear plugs and flatten the sound while maintaining its quality within a safe range.
Some students are open to the idea of using ear plugs, but only under certain conditions. Monica Moreno said that, “If I went to concerts more consistently, I may buy ear plugs. If I was going to them every night in the future for my career as a photo journalist, I would 100 percent buy earplugs and wear them.”
Common high-fidelity ear plug brands are Eargasm, Vibes, Etmotic, and Hearos High and can cost between $10-$35. Regular foam ear plugs are cheaper, but often distort the sound at concerts.
“If they are a musician or avid concert-goer, custom filtered musician’s plugs are recommended,” says Dr. Kim Ortega.
Hearing is something that we take for granted during our young and wild years, but something we value and cherish as we age. For those who still aren’t convinced about the need to protect their ears, especially at loud concernts and events, Dr. Lash cautions, “You are armed with knowledge that can hopefully make a change… Any kind of event that can be that long with that high of amplitudes of sound can be affect you and your future selves.”
