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!