Do I need earplugs to go to a concert? AKA Noise Induced Hearing Loss

One from my Quora postbag…

Q “Is it alright to not bring earplugs to a concert?”

Me: Of course it’s alright! But I would strongly recommend you take at least a pair of foam, off the shelf earplugs with you. They are only a couple of £/$ and you give yourself the option to use if it gets too loud.

If you don’t use them, you can keep for the next gig/club. Think of it as low cost hearing insurance.

An AI generated image to save on royalty fees. Note the lady with the backwards head. You get what you pay for.

Expanded comments:

Concerts are generally speaking all about the music. The best way to present the music, the sound quality, how the band want it to be experienced. How the sound technicians want to show their expertise. I’m pretty sure that “are these kids going to get tinnitus and hidden hearing loss in ten years?” is not part of the conversation.

Furthermore, no one thinks about cumulative damage to hearing when they are setting up their gig, their cinema screening.

Hearing damage is absolutely a cumulative process. There are circumstances - such as a bomb blast - where you can instantly damage hearing. In every other way though, it’s a longer process of a little damage with each nightclub, each gig, each performance.

If you are of the opinion that earplugs ruin your experience of a concert, I want you to know that the damage noise does means that your hearing will permanently sound like you have earplugs in.

If you don’t like earplugs because it’s more difficult to talk to the person next to you in noise… that’s what hidden hearing loss will do to you - permanently.

So, do we have it for a couple of hours now, or permanently later on, that’s the real question. I don’t want to scaremonger, but it is so prevalent now that maybe a bit of scaring is in order!