You’ve likely heard from a parent that you should wear earplugs at a concert. However, have you ever heard why this is important?
Not wanting to wear earplugs at a concert is certainly understandable. They look silly and can detract from the whole experience.
Despite this, protecting your ears while enjoying a concert is a must. Failing to do this can damage your ears and lead to hearing loss.
Should this happen, you’ll wish that you had been more cautious about wearing ear protection. Once the damage is done, it’s already too late!
Because of this, you should appreciate the need for wearing earplugs at a concert. We’ll give you some more great reasons for this below.
Hearing Loss Is Caused By Sound Exposure
It’s helpful to understand that most hearing loss is caused by sound exposure.
It’s certainly true that age is a factor in hearing loss, but it is more often caused by exposure to loud noises.
The reason for this is because loud noise will overstimulate the cells used for hearing. Too much stimulation will inevitably lead to cell death and hearing loss.
This overstimulation can be caused in multiple ways. It can happen from one loud event like a gunshot, but it can also occur with prolonged exposure to loud noise.
This is where earplugs come in handy. They limit your exposure to noise and mitigate the impact that on your hearing cells.
This will allow you to still enjoy loud functions like a concert without causing damage to your ears.
Concerts Are Exceptionally Loud
Concerts are particularly problematic because they are exceptionally loud.
If you’ve ever been to one before, then you likely know this well. The music is amplified and blasted across the entire venue.
It is often deafening and makes it near impossible to hear anything else. Many music enthusiasts love this because you can immerse yourself in the music.
However, this volume level is dangerously loud. Imagine playing music through your computer speakers at home at full volume.
This is probably quite loud, but it’s nowhere near the scale of a concert. For reference, the volume level of a concert is typically twice that of a conversation.
This sound is exceptionally powerful and will surely impact your ears. If you experience ringing in your ears after a concert, then this illustrates the immediate impact of the noise level.
They Also Last Several Hours
Not only are concerts loud, but they tend to last for several hours.
A short concert may last just an hour or two, but longer events like a festival can run all day. This means even longer exposure to high volume levels.
To put things into perspective, it only takes roughly 30 minutes for a concert to damage your ears. Most concerts far exceed this and expose your ears to a large volume of noise.
Without earplugs, you’ll undoubtedly suffer from the effects of noise damage when you spend multiple hours at a concert. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution and that’s to wear earplugs.
Making things easier for you, many concert-goers report that they can hear better with earplugs in. It sounds counterintuitive, but you should at least try it for yourself.
Hearing Loss Is Often Irreversible
As a final consideration, the effects of hearing loss are often irreversible. This means that once your ears are damaged, they will never be the same.
Furthermore, there’s a possibility that exposure to loud sounds can lead to hearing loss when you get older. The effects may not be immediate, but they will crop up when you become more vulnerable.
While hearing loss cannot be fixed, you can use hearing aid devices to improve your hearing. These are often effective and will increase your quality of life.
That said, there’s nothing better than having healthy hearing. This should be a priority for you, which means accepting your fate of looking silly while wearing earplugs.
Closing Thoughts
When you go to a concert, you’re there to enjoy the music and absorb the experience.
Wearing earplugs might seem like a hassle and a quick way to ruin the concert. However, they’re essential for protecting your ears from the dangers of the intense sound.
Concerts are exceptionally loud and last for several hours. This exposes your ears to a high amount of loud sounds.
This is relevant because sound exposure directly leads to hearing loss. Making matters worse, hearing loss is typically permanent.
Do your future self a huge favor and use earplugs at concerts! You can still enjoy the music and keep yourself protected.
