usic doesn't sound as good as it used to for one local musician.
Dr. John C. Peterson, owner of Doc's in downtown Muncie, balances his love for music while he experiences hearing loss in his fifties. He said he wished he would have protected his hearing in his youth.
"Back in the '60s, we weren't quite as aware of it," he said. "We were really exposed ourselves to some high levels of noise and high decibels."
Peterson plays in his band, Walking Catfish, at Doc's regularly. He also scored a Top 100 hit on Billboard in 1967 called "Walkin' Proud," with then-band The Pete Klint Quintet. The band opened up for The Beach Boys, The Doors and backed up Sonny and Cher, he said.
In an addition to playing music, Peterson is a fan. He cautions concert-goers and bands to be mindful of their hearing.
"If you can't carry a conversation at the opposite end of the room, it's too loud," he said.
David Coffin, audiologist and audiology program coordinator at Ball State, said he has seen a trend in his office of younger patients and attributes the hearing loss in younger people to concerts and listening to music under headphones.
"It's basically giving younger people older ears," he said.
"We've seen some in this clinic that have significant hearing loss that is something that I would expect to see in somebody who is in their 40s or 50s and who's worked in a factory all their life," he said.
Hearing loss occurs when little hairs, cilia, cannot pick up fluid movement in the ear because of excessive noise and pressure on the bones inside the ear, he said.
The only causes audiologists think that damaged young people's hearing was the frequent listening of music under headphones and standing in front of speakers at concerts, Coffin said.
Defining how loud is loud at concert or at work can be answered by common sense, he said.
"The general rule is, that if you are in a noisy situation and you are standing just a couple feet away from somebody, and you have to raise your voice to be heard, then you probably should be wearing hearing protection," Coffin said.
If controlling the volume is possible, like at a party, turn it down or avoid the situation, he said.
RINGING YOUR EARS OUT
After being exposed to loud music for an extended period of time, people may hear a ringing, whooshing or roaring noise in their ears, Coffin said. Nobody knows why it is a ringing noise instead of another sound, he said.
Ringing, or tinnitus, that lasts for 30 seconds is normal, Coffin said, but if it continues for a few minutes or on a regular basis, something may be wrong.
If your ears ring after you leave an event, ear protection should have been worn from the start, he said.
"That is a very good sign, even if your ears only ring for a few seconds after a loud sound, that is possible that permanent damage may have already been done," he said. "Even if the ringing goes away, there may be still some hearing loss there."
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a government office that provides safety guidelines for jobs, provides specific guidelines for wearing hearing protection. OSHA suggests people who experience 85 decibels of sound for eight hours a day at work should wear earplugs or ear molds.
"Anything louder than that, like 95 [decibels], if you're under [those conditions] for four hours a day, you should be wearing hearing protection," Coffin said.
The ringing sound could actually be coming from the brain and not the ears, he said. In some cases, it can be severe.
"I had a patient one time that had it really, really badly, and the surgeon, for other reasons, went in and did some surgery and cut the nerve to that ear. She still heard the ringing," he said. "It's her brain filling in the gaps, probably due to some hearing loss and some other things that are going on. It wasn't getting anything from that ear, so it was making up its own thing."
EAR PROTECTION
James Braun, freshman architect major, loves to go to concerts and likes his music loud, but this music fan doesn't like to wear earplugs.
Braun said the standard yellow earplugs decreases his concert experience.
"When you muffle your hearing with earplugs, all you hear is the bass and it makes hearing difficult," he said.
The foam earplugs are made for working in environments where sound quality does not matter, Coffin said. The BSU Audiology Clinic in Art and Communication Building Room 104 sells custom ear molds made with musicians in mind, and $20 earplugs that preserve sound quality in addition to the foam plugs, he said.
"These have a flat response, which is basically like turning the volume down," he said.
If the concert is really loud, the foam earplugs also maintain fidelity because of the extreme volume, Coffin said.
Peterson said another way concert goers can protect their hearing is by repositioning themselves at concerts.
"If you're right in front of the stage, you're going to be fine because the musicians won't expose themselves to all of that sound," he said.
Bands can also be responsible to decrease loudness at concerts, Peterson said. If the band is on stage, the amplifiers should be on the sides facing inward to the middle of the stage to keep stage volume low, he said. The public address system should provide most of the sound and not the amps, he said.
"The best players are the ones that can create power and emotion without being loud," he said.
POST-CONCERT CONCERN
After the years of concerts, Peterson said he lost some of his high frequency range hearing. The only reason he knows, he said, is that he can't hear the higher notes on his B3 Hammond guitar.
Hearing loss that occurs from frequenting concerts varies from person-to-person, Coffin said.
One concert could cause permanent hearing loss, while others may not feel the effect until later.
"Others, it may not happen, or others it may not happen until 20, 30 years later, and they may be having hearing loss and may be even needing hearing aids in their 40s," he said. "Versus, had they not have that as a younger person, they would have made it to their 60s without needing hearing aids."
Difficulty hearing after a concert may last up to 72 hours before hearing comes back to normal, he said. Continuing that pattern increases the time it takes to recover from a concert and may permanently affect hearing levels, he said.
One way to tell if you are experiencing hearing loss is difficulty hearing consonant sounds, Coffin and Peterson said.
If students suspect they may have hearing loss, or want to see how healthy their hearing is, Coffin said students can call or stop by the Audiology Clinic in AC104 to schedule an appointment. Testing is free for students; referrals are not necessary.
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