Protect Your Ears at Your Favorite Sporting Events

For those who are athletes, we set goals which push our bodies to new limits. For the fans we just love to marvel at the dedication, preservation and celebration which comes with the process and journey. If you’ve ever found yourself in the stands of a large stadium as your favorite athletes compete against each other you know how thrilling it can be. Here you are amongst so many others, cheering, yelling, screaming with joy and excitement as you witness the athletes and teams you love pushing their bodies to new capacities in the pursuit of becoming champions. However, with this cacophony comes dangerous levels of noise you should definitely be mindful of.

How Loud is Your Local Stadium?

When you really stop to think of it, it’s not a surprise that sporting events can get to dangerously high levels of noise—however not many really think about the ramifications of this. The loudness or volume of sound is measured in decibels. When the decibel level passes a safe listening threshold it can cause audio vibrations so severe that it can damage the inner ear over time- causing permanent hearing damage and lasting impairment.

The threshold for safe listening starts at 85 dBA with a constant exposure of 8 hours or more. Rarely does a game last eight hours, however, as the decibel levels rise, the time it takes for hearing damage to occur starts to shrink quickly. Every increase of three in decibel level cuts the exposure time till damage in half. At 88 dBA it only takes 4 hours, at 95 dBA it can take under an hour and at 105 it can take under 15 minutes! The volume of sports venues may surprise you. If you consider a normal conversation is 60 dBA, sound is conglomerative. When you think of a stadium of people not only talking but shouting, the decibels levels can range from 90 dBA, to 110 dBA! At the higher range damage can occur in minutes! It’s not only the cheering though—often music is blaring and a sports announcer’s voice booms over giant speakers. With noise exposure this loud you may be leaving the stadium with more than just lasting memories

Did You Damage Your Hearing?

If you’ve ever left the stadium with a ringing or buzzing sound in your ears, this is tinnitus—a common sign that you’ve sustained some noise induced hearing loss. You may think that as the ringing subsides the issue is over, but hearing loss is a dangerous and irreversible condition. More than just hearing, it affects our ability to follow conversations, and this affects our ability to connect to others, succeed at work or school and ultimately affects our overall mood and even personality.

Protecting Your Hearing 

The good news is that to protect your hearing, you don’t have to give up sporting events and stadiums. You just need to come prepared with hearing protection. There are several types of hearing protection on the market from over the earmuffs, foam earplugs and noise canceling headphones which let in quiet sounds while limiting decibels in the higher range. Investing in hearing protection which can keep your ears safe is going to pay off in the long run. Hearing loss is far too serious to take lightly.

Address Your Hearing Health

The issue with hearing loss is that once the damage has been done you can’t go back. However hearing loss occurs over time and can definitely get worse, which makes the side effects connected to communication, mobility and cognitive function much more acute. It’s never too late to start listening safely at the stadium and anywhere else you may go.

While hearing loss is permanent, the good news is that with hearing aids, most often you can reduce the negative effects on your emotional, cognitive, and physical health, allowing you to hear the people in your life and connect with confidence. The first step is to schedule a hearing exam. From there we can diagnose the extent of your hearing damage and help you find the best hearing aids or cochlear implants for you. Once you invest in hearing aids, many wonder how they ever lived without them. Find out for yourself and schedule a hearing exam with us today!