Musicians with Hearing Loss

Music is ever present in our daily lives, establishing a link between humans and the arts through the senses. Whether you front for a rock band, filling stadiums with screaming fans, or you're first violin at the philharmonic - making music is your business. And, because your sensitive, inner ear mechanisms are regularly bombarded by loud resonating sound, you're going deaf for a living.

It takes amperage and stacks of speakers to hear that guitar solo over 10,000 screaming fans. And, as a professional musician, you're standing right in front of that explosion of decibels. If you play classical music or pops with a large symphony, you experience the same loss of hearing caused by the onslaught of the percussion, horns, reeds and string sections. And as a professional, who's worked hard to reach the pinnacle, quitting isn't an option.

As a musician, your first love is music. Imagine losing the ability to hear that music clearly (think Beethoven). Oh, it might take a few years, but maybe not. In fact, exposure to loud noise even once does some inner ear damage.

Let's Set an Example

Pete Townshend - Guitar (The Who), Jeff Beck - Guitar (Yardbirds), Eric Clapton - Guitar (Yardbirds), John Entwhistle - Bass Guitar (The Who), Mick Fleetwood - Drums (Fleetwood Mac), James Destri - Keyboards (Blondie), Bono - Vocals (U2), Phil Collins - Vocals (Genesis) are just a few professionals who have reported significant hearing loss from years of bombarding their ears with excessive volume.

My Take on the Issue at Hand

As a Doctor of Audiology who specializes in serving a misunderstood, underserved market where hearing is mission critical, preventing hearing loss in musicians is very important to me. I was a performer myself, so I understand the inner workings of the industry. Serving the music industry is an interesting job, as I have worked with many famous, and many more not-so-famous ones. It all started when I moved to Nashville, (Music City), and the lead singer of a popular country music group came to me for help because he was having hearing problems and didn't think he could continue to perform or record. I was able to help him, and he is now a loyal patient, who has literally “required” his entire band, crew and staff to get their hearing tested and protect themselves from the occupational hazard of hearing loss. It's crazy that there is this huge industry need and no-one was helping to keep them from going deaf.  It's not regulated like other industries. Why should there be a job requirement for musicians to lose their hearing?

Not Just for Musicians: Hearing Loss in Sound Technicians

Sound technicians are the link between musicians and audiences or consumers. Recently there's been quite a “buzz” regarding extreme sound-producing activities within leisure and professional environments. As a sound technician, your job exposes you to the risk of hearing loss, and consequently puts at risk your quality of life, the quality of the musical product and consumers' hearing. Let's face it, without the ability to hear, your job would be over. It's just as important for technicians, both live and studio, to adequately protect yourselves from the extreme decibel levels you're exposed to each and every day.

So plug 'em up before you power up. Hearing is cool. Don't blow it.