Hearing loss can have a major impact on anyone who suffers from it, making various tasks harder or even impossible. This is especially true for those who have musical talent and find it difficult to play when they cannot hear the notes properly.
While such a development will be bad for anyone with musical talent, it is worse for professionals. But there can be solutions, as has been shown by a couple of big-name performers who have been able to announce comebacks.
Speaking to The Guardian recently, singer-songwriter Paul Simon revealed that the hearing loss in his left ear that had caused him to pause his career has not entirely forced him into retirement, because he has learned to write again and may be able to perform solo, although not in an acoustic band.
However, while Paul Simon has found a way of adjusting, other musicians have been able to make full returns due to some remarkable hearing loss treatments, not least AC/DC singer Brian Johnson.
As Radio X detailed recently, Johnson, who has just turned 77 (five years younger than Paul Simon), was forced to quit the band in 2016 as his hearing was suffering and he was warned that continuing to perform amid the noise of the rock band’s gigs could cause him to completely lose what hearing he had left.
However, he was able to return in 2020 thanks to an implant device that, in his own words, “looked like a car battery”, but represented a larger version of the device he was to have used as a hearing aid.
He was shown it by a specialist who visited his house and explained how it worked, telling him it “uses the bone structure in the skull as a receiver”.
As a result, he was able to make a complete return to performing, unlike the partial one that Paul Simon is anticipating.
The kind of hearing aid Brian Johnson was probably describing is a bone-anchored hearing aid, sometimes known as a bone-anchored hearing implant. This is an implant that works by sending sound waves through the bones in the skull into the cochlear, a spiral structure in the inner ear that plays a key role in hearing.
It can be used in people who may not gain much benefit from a traditional hearing aid, which works by amplifying the sound that reaches the inner ear, effectively acting as a volume switch.
The problems faced by musicians are not just an impediment to future performances; they can also be the result of being exposed to loud music, especially in a heavy metal band like AC/DC.
However, it is important to be aware that many other professions can expose people to loud noise and while equipment is often provided to help protect their hearing, this is not always on hand.
As an article by a doctor (and daughter of a farmer) for Farmer’s Weekly revealed, agriculture is a sector where hearing loss is a major risk, due to the presence of loud machinery in certain settings. This makes it one of the professions most likely to cause hearing loss.
If your line of work is a noisy one and you think it has affected your hearing, you should not hesitate to get an assessment.
