Some activities are just staples of summertime: Outdoor concerts, fireworks shows, state fairs, air shows, and NASCAR races (look, if you like watching cars go around in circles, nobody’s going to judge you). The crowds, and the noise levels, are getting larger as more of these events are going back to normal.

But sometimes this can cause problems. Because let’s be honest: this isn’t the first outdoor concert that’s left you with ringing ears. This ringing, known as tinnitus, can be an indication that you’ve sustained hearing damage. And as you keep exposing your ears to these loud noises, you continue to do additional irreversible damage to your hearing.

But don’t worry. If you use reliable ear protection, all of this summer fun can be safely enjoyed.

How to know your hearing is suffering

So how much attention should you be putting on your ears when you’re at that concert or air show?
Because, obviously, you’ll be pretty distracted.

Well, if you want to prevent significant injury, you should be looking out for the following symptoms:

• Headache: Generally, a headache is a good indication that something isn’t right. This is definitely true when you’re attempting to gauge injury to your hearing, too. A pounding headache can be triggered by excessively loud volume. And that’s a strong indication that you should find a quieter setting.
• Tinnitus: This is a ringing or buzzing in your ears. It means your ears are taking damage. Tinnitus is rather common, but that doesn’t mean you should dismiss it.
• Dizziness: Your sense of balance is generally controlled by your inner ear. Dizziness is another signal that damage has occurred, especially if it’s accompanied by a spike in volume. So if you’re at one of these noisy events and you feel dizzy you may have damaged your ears.

This list isn’t complete, obviously. There are tiny hairs inside of your ears which are responsible for picking up vibrations in the air and excessively loud sounds can damage these hairs. And when an injury to these tiny hairs occurs, there’s no way for them to heal. They’re that specialized and that delicate.

And the phrase “ow, my little ear hairs hurt” isn’t something you ever hear anyone say. That’s why you need to watch for secondary signs.

You also could be developing hearing loss with no detectable symptoms. Any exposure to loud sound will lead to damage. And the damage will worsen the longer the exposure continues.

When you do detect symptoms, what should I do?

You’re getting your best groove on (and everyone is digging it), but then, you begin to feel dizzy and your ears start to ring. What should you do? How many decibels is too loud? And are you in a dangerous spot? (How loud is 100 decibels, anyhow?)

Here are some options that have various degrees of effectiveness:

• Check the merch booth: Some venues will sell disposable earplugs. Check out the merch booth for earplugs if you can’t find anything else. Usually, you won’t need to pay more than a few dollars, and when it comes to the health of your hearing, that’s a deal!
• Try moving away from the source of the noise: If your ears start hurting, make sure you’re not standing near the stage or a giant speaker! Essentially, distance yourself from the source of the noise. You can give your ears a rest while still enjoying yourself, but you may have to let go of your front row NASCAR seats.
• You can get out of the venue: If you really want to protect your ears, this is really your best solution. But it’s also the least fun solution. So if your symptoms are severe, think about leaving, but we get it if you’d rather find a way to safeguard your hearing and enjoy the concert.
• Use anything to block your ears: When things get loud, the objective is to protect your ears. Try using something around you to cover your ears if you don’t have earplugs and the high volume suddenly takes you by surprise. It won’t be the most effective way to limit the sound, but it will be better than no protection.
• Bring cheap earplugs wherever you go: Cheap earplugs are, well, cheap. They aren’t the ideal hearing protection, but they’re somewhat effective for what they are. So there’s no reason not to keep a set in your glove box, purse, or wherever else. This way, if things get a bit too loud, you can just pop in these puppies.

Are there any other methods that are more reliable?

So when you need to safeguard your ears for a short time at a concert, disposable earplugs will do. But it’s a bit different when you’re a music-lover, and you attend concerts every night, or you have season tickets to NASCAR or football games, or you work in your garage every evening repairing an old Corvette with noisy power tools.

In these cases, you will want to take a few more profound steps to protect your hearing. Here are a few steps in that direction:

• Professional or prescription level hearing protection is encouraged This could include personalized earplugs or over-the-ear headphones. The level of protection increases with a better fit. When need arises, you will have them with you and you can simply put them in.
• Talk to us today: You need to recognize where your present hearing levels are, so come in and let us help. And after you have a recorded baseline, it will be easier to detect and record damage. Plus, we’ll have all kinds of personalized tips for you, all designed to protect your ears.
• Use a decibel monitoring app: Ambient noise is typically monitored by your smartphone automatically, but you can also download an app for that. When noise gets too loud, these apps will sound an alert. In order to safeguard your ears, keep an eye on your volume monitor on your phone. This way, you’ll be able to easily see what decibel level is loud enough to harm your ears.

Have your cake and hear it, too

Okay, it’s a bit of a mixed metaphor, but the point stands: you can protect your hearing and enjoy all these wonderful outdoor summer activities. You just have to take measures to enjoy these activities safely. You need to take these steps even with headphones. You will be able to make better hearing choices when you recognize how loud is too loud for headphones.

As the years go on, you will probably want to keep doing all of your favorite outdoor summer activities. If you’re not smart now you could end up losing your hearing and also your summer fun.

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References

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/what_noises_cause_hearing_loss.html
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/decibel-levels