Blog Post: Protect Your Ears! - Has anyone damaged their hearing already?

[Miguel1]

I have gone out to clubs for years and for some reason, I never realized to take earplugs seriously (even though I've heard the recommendation here and there) until now when Leo posted the blog post.

It made me stop and deeply think and research. And goddamn I have been dumb.

I am wondering whether I have damaged my hearing or not. I don't have tinnitus right now, that much I know. So I'm wondering are there ways to find out whether my hearing has been damaged? Whether it is worse than normal hearing? (panicking a bit lol).

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I am also very surprised. I have been studying game content and coaches for a decade and I don't recall bumping into anyone strongly suggesting or even casually suggesting and promoting the usage of earplugs. Why is this? Also, from what I've seen, most people don't use ear plugs. Also, why the hell are clubs even allowed to blast music so loud that it literally damages your hearing?

 

[MarkKol]

If only you can use wireless earbuds without people noticing because I strongly prefer my playlists over whatever the club has going on, sometimes you just wanna let go and put yourself in a positive/naturally intoxicated mood, leave the girl chasing shit for later.

however my experience is that people won’t talk / approach you if you have headphones on/in no matter where you are.  
Loop earbuds is pretty popular here in Europe, I found 10s while sleeping in hostels.

Edited December 21, 2023 by MarkKol

[Danioover9000]

   My ears are fine, so no damage here. Also ear plugs are annoying.

[SeaMonster]

If you did, you'd probably have tinnitus.

You can go to an audiologist to test, but if there's no tinnitus you're probably ok or it's really minor.

But yeah, wear earplugs, don't abuse your ears.

[Danioover9000]

   Fun fact for @Leo Gura, @Carl-Richard and @Miguel1 , did you know that the human ear can pick up infrasound as well? Similar to light, sound also has a lot of range, and areas in that range where we can't consciously 'hear' sound, but those types of sound still effect our subconscious? Also a term for this type of infra sound produced by biological creatures is called bio acoustics, like bats and sperm whales? Well, if you look through reports of big foot there's something interesting with sound too:

  

[Princess Arabia]

Simple. When someone says hi. do you hear them. When you're conversing, do you strain to hear. It's that simple. Don't complicate life. Also when people are drinking the music sounds better louder. Don't go to nightclubs if you're terrified. Earplugs also come with their set of problems if worn for too long.

[Leo Gura]

6 hours ago, Miguel1 said:

 

That chart is too conservative. Most ears can handle more than that without damage.

I have spent hours in very loud nightclubs above 100dB without earplugs and it was okay. But that's risky. Err on the side of safety.

[UnbornTao]

I've got tinnitus, not clear on the cause though, but it wasn't loud noises. 

Edited December 22, 2023 by UnbornTao

[Devin]

I wear earplugs at loud events. Walmart or wherever have skin colored ones in the pharmacy area.

Hearing loss and Tinnitus are not from just noise level but also amount of exposure. I wear them mowing the yard too.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Devin

[Raze]

You can also damage your ears by wearing two head phones and not realizing how loud it is, always test the sound with one ear and make it slightly lower than what you default set it as.

[Rigel]

I was amazed when I went to music school how few people wear plugs. Except drummers cause drums will wreck you more than anything. Especially when you are up close doing the hitting. To me it was always none negotiable. I got custom ones made and never looked back.

[An young being]

Not only the intensity in dB, but also the duration for which the music is played can cause ear damage. Earphones can cause more damage than loud speakers, especially for those who use it all throughout their day at high volumes.

[joeyi99]

@Leo Gura I thought sense organs were imaginary  

[Princess Arabia]

1 hour ago, joeyi99 said:

@Leo Gura I thought sense organs were imaginary  

Ear plugs imaginary, sense organs imaginary, ears imaginary, music imaginary, the club imaginary, the people in the club imaginary, you imaginary, everything imaginary except your deaf ass ears.

[cle103]

@Leo Gura Is it possible to have a proper conversation with them in or do you take them out whilst talking? 

My head always feels buzzy after going out so I'm definitely jumping on the wagon. 

 

[LSD-Rumi]

@Leo Gura Why not use high-quality noise-canceling ear buds instead of earplugs? You can turn off the function at will when you want to talk to people.

[Yimpa]

I personally use Loop ear plugs. They’re stylish, come with a carrying case, and are very comfortable. 

[Danioover9000]

   I've used headphones that cancel sounds from the outside. Anyone use headphones?

[An young being]

10 minutes ago, Danioover9000 said:

   I've used headphones that cancel sounds from the outside. Anyone use headphones?

Does that work well when you are not listening to a song?

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, cle103 said:

@Leo Gura Is it possible to have a proper conversation with them in or do you take them out whilst talking?

It's harder with earplugs, but you can somewhat get used to it.

Or you can selectively take them out. You can even take out just 1 earplug when you're talking to a girl. Put it back in in between approaches or on the dance floor. Some areas of the club are more dangerous than others. Especially when you're near the speaks or the dance floor is when you want to put your earplugs in.

3 hours ago, LSD-Rumi said:

@Leo Gura Why not use high-quality noise-canceling ear buds instead of earplugs? You can turn off the function at will when you want to talk to people.

I haven't tried those. Not sure how well they would work in a bar/club.