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Concerts, Music, and Decibel Levels: What’s the Big Deal?

Concerts are the closest most of us are getting to our favorite musicians. These events are something special to the crowd, and it's a moment of connection to the music and people. Concert goers typically try to get as close to the stage as possible, never second-guessing the hidden dangers of their location in the crowd.

Live shows can have concert-goers leaving with a feeling of water trapped in their ears or a form of ringing. For reference, hearing loss can begin at 85 decibels (1) - the sound of a lawnmower. Depending on how close you were to the speakers at a show, you may have been exposed to over 120(2) decibels.

 

Now you may be reading this thinking, "What’s the big deal." Well, that's the problem. A lot of people ignore the warning of hearing loss because:

 

1. Earplugs safety is not widely known\accessible.

2. People don't believe that it could happen to them... until it does.

The truth is people don't see (I would say hear, but you get the gist) the damage until their late adulthood, noticing that they can no longer understand what others are saying or have to battle the pain of tinnitus.

It's never too late to practice healthy habits and help others around you understand the risk of noise-induced hearing loss and share protective measures such as wearing earplugs. Concerts should be a place to leave worries behind, and we can make that possible by sharing awareness of this issue that affects people every day.

https://www.sertoma.org/What-we-do/SAFEEars

1.https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/what_noises_cause_hearing_loss.html#:~:text=Common%20Sources%20of%20Noise%20and%20Decibel%20Levels&text=Noise%20above%2070%20dB%20over,immediate%20harm%20to%20your%20ears.

2. https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/tf4173#:~:text=Normal%20conversation%20is%20about%2060,such%20as%20earplugs%20or%20earmuffs.