STOP THRASHING YOUR (EAR)DRUMS

A hearing protection guide for musicians

According to Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich : “If you get a scratch on your nose, in a week that’ll be gone. When you…damage your hearing, it doesn’t come back, it’s gone, and there’s no real remedy.”

Several factors contribute to this type of degradation, including volume, frequency distribution, duration of exposure, individual susceptibility (genetics), and age. Ongoing exposure of the cochlea’s hair cells to these high SPLs causes physical wear and destruction, and ultimately they can no longer carry the sound movement to the nerve cells.

Warning signs

Most of us have experienced that hollow or ringing sense after enjoying a live concert that was just a bit too loud. Although it usually goes away after several hours, inevitably there is some degree of permanent damage, and it’s an example of one of the earlier signs of hearing loss, called tinnitus.

Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, has battled tinnitus for about 10 years, and since he started protecting his ears it hasn’t gotten any worse…but he wishes that he’d thought about it earlier.