As January is finally drawing to a close, the first glimmers of spring are appearing on the horizon…summer plans are starting to be hatched and that means in the UK, the British Festival calendar is going to feature on many people’s 2020 bucket list. Some of you may have even been fortunate enough to have bagged their Glastonbury tickets in the minutes that they sold out (fear not, those who missed out have a second chance for general admission tickets on Sunday 19th April 2020). Whichever festival you are planning to attend, the most important body part for a great experience (in our opinion!) is your ears; after all, if you can’t hear the music properly or your ears are in pain, you won’t have as good a time. With that in mind, you need to look after your ears…
Festivals are noisy places to be, and as a consequence your ears are being exposed to damaging sound waves. Here are some facts about noise levels, in decibels, to have as a comparison:
Normal Talking – 40db to 60db (1)
Rock Concert – 110db to 120db…this can go as high as 140db in front of the speaker (1)
Fireworks Show – 140db to 160db (2)
So if you are raving in front of the speakers for the day at a concert, you are essentially exposing your ears the noise levels of a fireworks display…all day! The immediate effect of this may be a loss of hearing/ringing in your ears, which will fade over time. However, over a period of time, it’s the small hair cells in your inner ear that will get damaged – you can read more about the science behind it in the National Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) article – and there may be long term residual damage to your hearing (2). So for the regular festival goers, it’s important to protect your ears.
Enter hearing protection – or in our case, Snugs Music Protection – which have a filter included in the ear plug which essentially reduces the music volume to a safe level, without compromising on the music quality. So you’ll still be able to listen and have a great time, but safe in the knowledge that your ears are not being damaged in the process. The added bonus with Snugs Music Protection is that they are made from your physical ear impressions i.e. are the exact shape of your ears, so you can wear them all day in comfort, and because they fit, know that no sneaky sounds will be entering your ears as you have the perfect seal.
So if you are attending some festivals this year, definitely consider investing in some ear plugs to protect your ears. Listen safely. Listen with Snugs.
(1) Medline Plus, 2020 – https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000495.htm
(2) National Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders, May 2019 – https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss