Monthly Archives: June 2010

Hearing festivals in all their glory

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It is the festival season and what better way to celebrate music and enjoy great atmospheres, but the sounds emitted can have a serious effect on your hearing. It has been featured in the Music Festival Survival Guide that earplugs are one of the essential items for you to take with you in your backpack.

Here are some reasons why:

Screaming fans

Yes the band you are seeing are amazing musicians, yes they maybe heartthrobs, but is it necessary for all the screaming? If you are lucky to be close to the main stage as well, not only could you be damaging your hearing with the volume of the screams but also the noise coming from the speakers.  Musician earplugs could help you have an excellent time at the festival as it will decrease the level of sound, but still allowing you to have a conversation with your fellow festivalers.

Techno music at 5am

People sometimes like to party into the early hours of the morning and that can mean the campsite could get extremely loud. If you like to up at a reasonable time to see your favourite bands that are starting fairly early in the day, sleeping earplugs could be the solution. With the help of these earplugs they will allow you to drift into sleep and have a good night’s rest without having to put up with the disturbance outside.

Spectators thinking they can form a band themselves

After hearing their favourite bands playing, some spectators become inspired and believe that they too can become the greatest rock band in the world, whereas a matter of fact they are pretty rubbish. Simple noise reduction earplugs could help you block the sounds of dreary vocals pretending to be Rod Stewart whilst still allowing you to hear the professionals and hear the conversation your friends are trying to have.

Hearing loss in children

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Hearing is a critical part of a child’s cognitive learning and with 1 in 3 out of 1,000 babies being affected by hearing loss and deafness, it is extremely important to have your babies hearing screened on a regular basis.

The good news about hearing loss in small children is that it can be treated if it is caught early, preferably before they are 3 months old, however some are not treated quickly enough. Hearing loss in children can occur due to a number of reasons such as:

  • Born prematurely
  • Stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit
  • Had high bilirub requiring a transfusion
  • Had frequent ear infections
  • Exposed to very loud sounds even for a brief duration.

Children are very sensitive when it comes to loud sounds and being exposed to deafening noises. Even at an extremely young stage of life hearing is imperial for children’s learning. The best way to protect your children’s hearing is to use earplugs designed specifically for them. These earplugs cannot be used for babies, but are ideal for young children who are learning to swim and who are exposed to damaging noises.

When my children were growing up, I made sure they always wore these children earplugs to prevent them from getting any infections such as swimmers ear. Children’s hearing is extremely important and I felt I had to make sure they were protected in times when it was very loud such as days out when we went to see plays.

Going on a summer holiday

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The summer holidays are coming and that can only mean one thing…travelling abroad.

For some passengers flying can cause serious discomfort in their ears as the pressure from inside to cabin changes from the pressure outside. This can also cause ears to pop.  More and more people are complaining about the discomfort they suffer when flying and in a recent article it seems some airlines are listening to how they can improve their services.

In a recent report JetBlue have partnered with Hanes to supply overnight passengers with a ‘comfort upgrade’ only in June. This added comfort includes a t-shirt and a snooze kit which features earplugs, eyeshade and a hot towel.

This is all very well and good, but what about people who tend to suffer from ear pains when travelling on short haul as well as long haul flights?

In my opinion I hate flying without a good pair of flying and travelling earplugs, not only to their relieve my discomfort and stop my ears from popping every time we lift off, but they also allow me to block out the background noises and relax.

Travelling earplugs are also known for helping people who have a fear of flying as it decreases the noises in the background, the sounds of the engine and allows for them to relax.

With any summer holidays you may be taking whether it is a long haul or short haul flight, do not forget to bring along your flying earplugs. Especially for those who want to relieve any discomfort, prevent popping ears and want nothing more than to relax whilst on a plane, travel earplugs suitable for flying are an essential in any hand luggage.

Vuvuzela’s World Cup – grab your earplugs

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What can be said about the World cup? Good football, great crowds, but a bit noisy?

The vuvuzela has been dominating the sound of the World Cup and with the ban of these instruments being ruled out they are set to carry on making their noisy mark. In the stands people have been complaining about the level of noise that these horn blowers make and back in the UK, the same criticisms are being made.

According to FIFA the vuvuzela is part of African footballing culture and so organisers have discarded the idea of putting a ban in place. However, the sound that comes from these plastic horns can have deafening effects to the spectators in the stands. Apparently the instruments can reach up to 130 decibels, which is the same level of noise that comes from a fired shotgun and the same level of the sound threshold for pain.

We have been constantly told that if we are exposed to high level frequencies for a substantial amount of time, we run the risk of irreversible hearing damage or worse deafness. These loud noises coming from the African horns can damage the little hairs (cilia) in the inner ear, which are responsible for receiving noise vibrations and sending these signals to the brain where they are interpreted. Once the cilia are damaged the body cannot repair them and overtime, permanent and irreversible damage to your hearing can occur.

At the World Cup eager spectators have become aware of the effects the vuvuzela tune can have on their hearing and are opting for protection when watching the matches. Football fans across the globe are investing in apparently, “vuvu-stop” earplugs, which have been selling out across the stadiums, according to recent reports.
Personally, I am glad I’m not over there with all the bellowing sounds coming from the horns, but not hearing the commentary rather does irritate me. The family and I sit in the living room with our friends to enjoy the football, but due to the invading sound of the vuvuzela we can’t hear the commentary as well as we had hoped. This is because the vuvuzela shares a similar frequency to human speech, which unfortunately can’t be blocked, unless we put the TV on mute! You would think with the amount of microphones they have at the BBC, they would be able to turn the volume down on the microphone situated in the stadiums?

However, there is good news for those who are soon to be flying off to South Africa. Instead of queuing to purchase your “vuvu-stop” earplugs, why not try using noise reducing earplugs as they allow you to enjoy the rest of the beautiful game, whilst protecting your hearing. Plus it will save you the hassle of queuing with the concern they might have sold out before you get there and worse, you’ve missed the first 5 minutes of the match!