If you live for live music, there’s probably a good chance you’ve hit up your fair share of concerts. Studies have shown that there’s a risk for permanent hearing damage after fifteen minutes of exposure to sound over 100 decibels, which is frequently par the course for certain shows. While earplugs have been shown to prevent this damage, certainly, a lot of us are not as good about protecting our ears when we’re out and about as we should be. Luckily, we can not check out the damage (if any) done with this innovative new online hearing test from Audicus, a leader in online hearing aids, one of the first hearing tests that allows you to assess your hearing at home. The test only requires ten minutes, a quiet place, and headphones, and afterward, you can get a better sense of how your ears are doing (and get ahead of any problems as they’re developing). Also, the test is pretty fun to take in addition to giving users some valuable knowledge about your body’s ability to recoup after concerts.
It’s well known that musicians protect their ears when they’re onstage, as that sort of sustained exposure to noise can being damaging in the long-term. We saw it recently with ACDC’s Brian Johnson, who was forced to leave tour after doctors advised him that if he continued to perform, he could sustain permanent deafness. Happily, Johnson returned to the stage this past weekend, joining Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers for a song and sounding better than ever. Still, such incidents highlight the need to think about hearing in the long-term and to take action now to protect yourself down the line. Regardless of whether you have perfect hearing or not, wear earplugs to shows, especially at venues or for performances by bands that you know get particularly loud.
You can check out the hearing test here, and we’ll see you at the next show!