One of the complications with protecting our hearing and delaying our need to look into private hearing aids as long as possible is that the exact volume that can cause our hearing significant issues can vary considerably.
The spring and summer months are festival season, and this is where hearing loss can be at its most extreme. In 2009, KISS reached a record 136 decibels, remarkably close to the volume of a gunshot or a jet engine taking off, and you would get about 28 seconds into Detroit Rock City before it could cause permanent hearing loss.
However, this is the highest end of the spectrum. Exposing yourself to volume levels above 100 can lead to hearing loss very quickly, but what is the volume at which sounds start to damage your hearing?
How Loud Is Too Loud?
Whilst the KISS concert and other infamous loud concerts and sporting events are obviously going to cause permanent hearing damage when exposed to them for a long time, the limits for persistent volume are lower than many people expect.
The decibel scale is a logarithmic scale, which means that each increasing decibel is exponentially higher than the last. A 20-decibel sound has ten times the intensity of a 10-decibel one.
According to the Health and Safety Executive, every three decibels doubles the noise, which means that volumes above the safe limit can cause exponential dangers very quickly.
The weighted sound for an event according to the HSE should not exceed 107 decibels over the course of the event, including the potential for it to rise and fall, but the peak sound pressure should not exceed 140 decibels, which is the same volume as a gunshot.
At the same time, any volume over 96 decibels creates a serious risk of permanent hearing damage, and anything above 70 decibels can cause damage to hearing over a long time.
How Do You Protect Your Hearing?
The most important way to protect your hearing is to use earplugs. There are a huge number of potential products available, each of which provides some degree of protection.
Some modern types of earplugs filter out certain types of damaging sounds whilst maintaining the ability to keep a conversation or hear a particular musical event.
If you are regularly exposed to loud sounds, either due to working in an industrial setting, being a professional musician, music critic or a regular concertgoer, earplugs are a must to maintain your hearing.
Keep away from speakers, where audio is likely to be at its most intense, and if you struggle to hear or be heard, move away from loud noises.
As well as this, taking breaks from the audio, such as sitting in an outdoor or break area, can significantly help to protect your hearing if at all possible.
Finally, if you already have some level of hearing loss, use hearing aids as much as possible to ensure that you are able to keep track of conversations and avoid exacerbating any hearing issues.