Too much sound is like too much anything – it causes problems. There was a good article by journalist Jody O’Callaghan recently on musicians’ hearing. She’s reporting on a recent New Zealand study that shows that 60.7 per cent of the studied group of orchestral musicians  aged 27-66 had hearing loss, as well as 22 per cent of those aged 18-38, and 16 per cent in child musicians aged 8-12.

I regularly give talks on this topic and other matters to do with hearing and hearing aids, and I’m keen to spread the word that too much sound exposure is to do with overall dose. Children in school are vulnerable to an overdose of sound exposure if they have  days that might include music practice, a noisy craft and some time listening to their personal music system on the way home. Teachers take note – and don’t just blame the kids for using personal music systems. Help educate on sound exposure, and make sure the music practice rooms are not too reverberent.

If you go to a music event and you feel a bit deaf afterwards, or have ringing in the ears, you’ve done some damage.  Try not to do it again.

Blamey Saunders hearing aids are great, and help a lot, but it’s even better to never need them at all.