When last did you have your hearing tested? Pro Systems consulted with audiologist Nolwazi Sambo from HearingCoach Africa to give some insight into hearing damage and its associated risks to professionals that work in the live event industry.
Sound engineers and musicians will agree that hearing is the most valuable asset they have in order to do their work effectively. However, a significant number of them will at some point suffer from Music-Induced Hearing Loss (MIHL), a dreaded disorder that results from prolonged exposure to high-intensity sound.
Just a few minutes of exposure to high-decibel sound can cause permanent hearing loss. Within the live event environment, the risk extends not only to sound engineers and musos, but to everyone involved, from the fans to lighting operators and even security guards.
“Sound engineers often have damage in the most sensitive region of human hearing, the frequency range between 1.5kHz and 5kHz.’
What happens when sound enters your ears?
When sound enters into the external auditory canal, it is funnelled through to the eardrum (tympanic membrane). The membrane acts as an elastic diaphragm and drives the ossicular chain of the middle ear system into motion. Then the middle ear ossicles transfer mechanical energy to the cochlea by way of the stapes footplate hammering against the oval window of the cochlea. This hammering causes the fluid within the cochlea to push against the stereocilia of the hair cells, which then transmit a signal to the central auditory system within the brain. There are between 15 000 and 20 000 microscopic hair cells, when they are damaged they can no longer transmit sound to the brain.
“Research indicates that classical musicians are the highest at risk compared to rock musicians and other music genres.’
Symptoms of Music Induced Hearing Loss
Symptoms of MIHL include: ringing in the ears after exposure to loud sounds, feeling of fullness of the ear, difficulty hearing on the telephone and difficulty in understanding speech in background noise. Professionals may ignore these warning signs and may not understand the impact that hearing loss has on their quality of work and social life – until it’s too late.
“Listening to music with earphones at a medium volume can generate harmful sound pressure of a level of up to 100dB, after just 15 minutes per day.’
Hearing loss can be prevented
Having hearing loss is like listening to a piano recital when only half the piano keys are played. Therefore it is very important to protect your hearing as early as possible by using the correct hearing protection. Professionals in the music industry should consult an audiologist, who will provide advice and information on how to look after their hearing and also monitor hearing damage on a yearly basis, because once hearing damage has occurred, there is no turning back the clock.
“Safe listening levels must be below 74dB because damage starts to occur at 74dB exposure level at 4Khz (biologic damage threshold).’
References: Occupational Hearing Loss in Audio Engineers – Jeffrey Wit; Why are audio engineers the enemies of our ears? – Ron Pellegrino ; http://www.sabre-international.com/sound-engineer-procedures.html
