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- Loud music
- How do I know if my hearing is being affected?
- Advice you might be glad you listened to...
- What can I do?
- Further support
If you enjoy going to lots of gigs or concerts, or maybe you like listening to loud music on your iPod or MP3 player, are you aware that this may be damaging your hearing?
How do I know if my hearing is being affected?
Signs to watch out for:
- Dullness or muffled hearing, which lasts for more than a day after you have been exposed to loud noise.
- Tinnitus - a ringing or continuous buzzing in the ears. This can come on suddenly or gradually after exposure. Danny McNamara from Embrace suffers from this and blames this on wearing headphones.
If you experience an ear-ringing effect after listening to loud music, which can often last for some time afterwards, it's known as a "temporary threshold shift" and is an indication that your hearing may be being damaged.
Advice you might be glad you listened to...
The RNID says: "If it's uncomfortable to listen to or you can't hear someone talking at normal volume over the music, then you're listening too loudly."
If you are regularly in noisy environments such as at gigs, clubs, festivals or listening to your mp3 player or iPod try:
- standing away from speakers
- taking regular breaks from loud music. If there is a chill-out room use it
- taking your headphones off or earphones out from time-to-time when listening to music on MP3 players or iPods to give your ears a rest
- to use noise cancelling or sound isolating headphones as this drowns out external noise so you don’t need your music up quite so loud. These are not always standard with your iPod, phone or mp3 player
If you are in any way concerned about your hearing, you could try the instant hearing test on the RNID website and remember you can always talk to a Connexions Personal Adviser, who will point you in the right direction for help and advice.
Don't Lose the Music
The RNID website for the 'Don't lose the music' campaign. Competition, info, celebrity input and latest news on the issue.
RNID
Home page for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID). Loads of info, shop and links to other sites.
Advanced Communication Solutions
Website for a company called 'Advanced Communication Solutions'. Stockists for the Elacin ER20-s earplug, a good, affordable, one-size-fits-all earplug. Look for your nearest retail outlet in the South East using their store finder.
Sensorcom
Shop for your earplugs online and get technical information on products.
Headphone World
Here's where you buy Sennheiser headphones, and a wide range of affordable equipment.
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