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A Deaf Generation?
Reported by Sarah Pearce
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Submitted 21-01-05 15:58
Every week thousands of us count down the days, hours and minutes till that blessed day arrives – Friday. The end of the 9-5 and the beginning of the weekend turns otherwise sensible working types into overexcited, blithering fools, desperate to put the mundane Monday to Friday life behind them and loose their minds in a mixture of spine tingling riffs and pounding baselines.
Across the nation pinstripe suits are swapped for tiny outfits and dancing shoes. The beers are cracked open and the stereo turned up to the max. Banging tunes symbolise the weekend, the summer and …..deafness??!
All clubbers know that the pull of the dance floor causes them to fling themselves around aimlessly and stomp the night away. The music, lights and atmosphere of the club hits you as soon as you walk in, the pure sound vibrating round your body and making you feel part of that whole sweaty mass. But what if I told you that those body shaking beats could be doing serious damage to your hearing, and could be causing you permanent ear damage?
Would you be worried that your weekend’s merriment could end up with you turning in your hearing aid rather than tuning up Glazby’s new mix? A new report by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) has announced that people who go clubbing once a week are putting their hearing at risk through prolonged exposure to noise levels louder than a pneumatic drill.
Now, if like me, you feel the only way to listen to music is as loud as possible and the vibrating, teeth chattering thing is something to be strived for then you may be inclined to stop reading. However, I warn you now that through my research on this subject, its actually quite worrying the dangers and damage that standing next to the speakers can do on your poor old ear lugs.
The RNID conducted an undercover survey on 15 nightclubs in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. The sound engineers found that the volume on most dance floors averaged just over 100dB – equivalent to a pneumatic drill being operated just 10ft away. Now that’s pretty loud! The charity said that the two loudest clubs (Belfast and Edinburgh) played house and drum and bass and averaged at 110 dB – the same level as an aircraft taking off.
Relationship between sound levels and the time taken to damage your hearing
Perhaps the most worrying thing is, if you’re like me, you don’t really notice the sound levels in clubs. Once you’ve got over the initial thumps and shouting at your mates it all seems to level out and the only distinction you have between noise is when you’re in the toilet for that all important “collect your thoughts” ten minutes. This could be a permanent threshold change in your ears and means that damage has been done to the cochlea. This type of damage normally makes people believe that they are “getting used to the noise”, but what is really happening is that the damaged ear can no longer hear the damaging frequencies as well and so the perceived volume is lower.
How many of you have staggered out into the morning sun with the sound of last night, quite literally ringing in your ears? It may even go on for a couple of days – but do you think anything of it? Research by the RNID showed that out of 66% of 18-30 year olds who regularly go clubbing 73% have experienced ringing in their ears or dullness in hearing. This is a warning sign of hearing damage – something that is permanent and irreversible and could lead to a condition called tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a ringing in your ears that you can’t get rid of; it makes being in a silent room horrendous, with a constant whistling and ringing getting inside your head. You get it from over exposure to loud frequencies, be it music or industrial sounds.
Once noise induced hearing loss occurs, the RNID says that there is no cure. The sound levels that we can put up with may not seem unpleasurable, quite the opposite indeed. Listening to banging riffs and breakdowns is one of the reasons why club land is swamped every weekend– but if we had to listen to a plane taking off for 8 hours would we really rush down to the speakers, wave our arms in the air and “reach for the lasers”?
Music is emotionally satisfying; it takes us away from the stress and worry of the week and puts us on another planet. Its escapism, reality and addictive. It doesn’t matter what the music is it’s the sound level that is slowly destroying our ears, if you’re standing two metres away from someone and have to shout to make yourself heard then the RNID say the music is too loud and could be causing permanent damage. If we’re not careful club country will be giving birth to a generation of “sorry what was that?” and “speak up, I can’t hear you love.”
We’re bombarded with dance safety. Drink enough water, but not too much, take regular breaks – you know the story. But what about something that really could do permanent damage and seriously p*ss you off in later life?
The ear's inner structure
There is a law in place to protect workers. The 1989 Noise at Work Regulations says that employees working in environments where the noise levels are above 85 decibels must be told of the risks of noise exposure and offered hearing protection. If levels are at or exceed 95 decibels then employers must mark out ear protection zones – areas were earplugs must be warn. If employers don’t do this then they can be taken to court.
But there are no laws in place to protect the clubbers. John Collins from B.E.D.A (Bar Entertainment and Dance Association) admits that these health risks are worrying but point out that the accepted level of music for most dance floor is over 95decibels. He said: “the accepted level in clubs is at least 95 dB, which is over both action levels set out by the Health and Safety Executive, but anything under that doesn’t allow for the emersion and escapism that you want on a dance floor.”
So it’s accepted that clubs play music at levels where the government legally calls for workers to be offered hearing protection, but clubbers are given no protection or even information on this health issue. Why is that?
A spokeswoman from the Health and Safety Executive, who are in charge of enforcing the regulations, said: “we can require clubs to give protection to their workers when levels reach the action levels, but we can’t require them to offer it to people who attend the events because those people are attending by choice.”
OK so it’s your choice what you do at the weekend – but it would be nice if someone let us know just what damage we’re doing to our hearing.
Venues need to become more aware of the long term affects of this and publish sound levels. Yeah sure loads of people won’t give a damn about this, but what about people who do?
Simple idea of how the ear works
The Egg in King’s Cross have been dubbed by the RNID as a “noise aware club”, they publicise noise levels and hand out earplugs as people come in. They also use a Funktion-one sound system which filters out all the damaging frequencies and gives clean, direct sound. Manager, Harvey said: “I think we have a responsibility, if people are coming to our venue to hear music and we’re damaging them in anyway then it’s our responsibility to make them aware of it.”
‘Tilt’s’ Nathan put it well: “clubbing is about socialising as well as dancing, so if you have to yell directly in your mates ear to communicate then its clearly too loud.”
‘Heat’s’ Damien said: “you can’t stop people from going clubbing, but it is continued misuse that’s going to wreak you’re ears. If there were frequencies in their damaging people then I would sell earplugs and make them available.”
So what’s to be done then? The thing is as I’m writing this I’m really aware of sounding like, well, your mum! But mummsy tendencies aside I love music, it may sound corny but it gets me up in the morning and sends me to sleep at night and to find out that the one thing that I love could possibly stop me from enjoying it in the future really does worry me! So, in true good citizen from I thought I should inform all my fellow stompers!
Earplugs seem to be the way forward. The RNID are calling for clubs to sell them, it may seem like a silly idea – but hey the lesser of two evils and all that! Funnily enough Slinky actually has them in the first aid room!
The word from the hearing experts is grab yourself a pair of plugs and boogie on down, don’t stand next to the speakers for too long and like your feet, give your ears a break now and again. Chill out rooms are good for this and hey, it’s a good excuse for lots of mongo chats to be spawned – not that you need an excuse!
London is a clubbers heaven; you can party all weekend and move from one phat sound system to the next. Fair play I say and bring on the weekend, however, at the end of the day the one thing we all have in common is a love for music.
If we’re not careful that’s what we’ll be losing.
dB Safe Listening Time
85 8 Hours
88 4 Hours
91 2 hours
94 1 Hour
97 30 Minutes
100 15 Minutes
103 7.5 Minutes
106 3.75 Minutes
109 Less than 2 minutes
What Do dB levels mean?
Painful
140--firearms, air raid siren
130--jackhammer
120--jet plane takeoff
Extremely Loud
110--rock music
100--snowmobile, chainsaw
90--lawnmower
Very Loud
80--alarm clock
70--busy traffic, vacuum cleaner
60--conversation, dishwasher
Moderate
50--moderate rainfall
40--quiet room
Faint
30--whisper
Useful Links
Article on Hearing Protection
ACS Hearing Protection - Manufacturers of the Elacin ER15/20 Earplug
Docs Pro-Plugs - a slightly cheaper option
Cheapest Foam Earplugs
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The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Comments:
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From: pink kitty on 6th Jul 2004 19:13.18
Wicked article, about time! What would be great is if people didn't take the piss out of those of us who DO wear earplugs but cannot afford the £150 numbers..... I don't care enough to stop wearing them, but that attitude sucks  Mine cost a tenner from Virgin, and when I'm swinging of the railings next to the speaker to get a shot, I'm damn glad of them 
From: shazzabazza on 6th Jul 2004 21:16.50
Absolutely awesome feature!  Very informative and brilliant that clubs and promoters have got involved and quoted showing their awareness on the issue - i hope action is taken by all to ensure the safety of clubbers so we can all continue enjoying our time out and about. Really well written piece- absolutely awesome!
From: SaVoR on 6th Jul 2004 21:26.50
I never thought about hearing loss and clubbing until I played out for the 1st time at a local club a few weeks ago. It was way too loud in the DJ box, the high frequencies from the mids/tweeters were too loud and this isn't even the monitors. I was in the box for about 3 hours in total, left the club with ears ringing and have had ringing in my ears since (on and off) - I've never had tinnitus before but I guess I have it now! Luckily it's not all the time, and I will be able to cope with it but I'm definately getting earplugs for subsequent sets... it's definately not worth risking damaging my hearing further!
V.good and informative article, I read with great interest!
Thanks!
From: space on 6th Jul 2004 21:29.23
you were right shazza, it is good stuff nice ot see a feature which isn't a review or an interview
From: Darz on 6th Jul 2004 23:30.20
awesome article!!!!
From: Marc Antoine on 7th Jul 2004 07:26.57
excellent...
it is about time people are made aware
of this kind of risk... 
From: harddance.net on 7th Jul 2004 11:02.55
excellent article. every time i get to a venue i remember i was going to get some earplugs and then when it's all over i forget again... methinks it's time to finally do something about it, as i've definitely noticed a deterioration in my hearing over the years.
From: Dom on 7th Jul 2004 11:35.02
Yup - good article.
Is there anything we do that doesn't fuck us up?
No drugs, no booze, no loud music, no sex, don't drive... etc...
From: Markus Buhmann on 7th Jul 2004 11:37.21
Best £160 I've spent recently...great article
From: Tin Tin on 7th Jul 2004 11:39.16
A Fantastic Article, i was going to get this sorted 'one day' but its time to sort it out now.
From: Gurnmaster Deluxe on 7th Jul 2004 12:39.56
Excellent research and well written. The most informative thing I've read on this website since it began. Nice one, Sarah
From: K8-e on 7th Jul 2004 14:38.39
Agree with all of this. I've been to some nights when its just so loud you are almost knocked back when you walk into the club  Promoters and club owners really have a responsibility to make sure the sound systems they use don't damage us. It's ridiculous that we aren't allowed to work with that level of noise but we can dance to it. Until that can be enforced everyone needs to take responsibility for themselves and get some earplugs. I played a set the other night and I couldn't here a word anyone said when I left the decks. I'm going to get some ear plugs sorted and quick...
From: frantic_child on 7th Jul 2004 17:13.01
I'm sorry but I just don't get this.
If everybody is going to wear earplugs, then why wouldn't they just turn the music down?Because it sounds better if it is loud!The earplugs that filter out the harmful quivver bits would be cool though.But if you didn't have that reverberation in your eardrum when you left the club would the tube still make all those fun tunes on the way home lol
From: pink kitty on 7th Jul 2004 20:52.49
Even the cheap ones help ...... you know when your mate comes over and shouts in your ear and its REALLY f@ckin annoying? EARPLUGS. You can hear everything, nice and loud, but no deafness afterwards. How long do you think we can listen at this level before we can't hear anything anymore? 
From: guyster on 8th Jul 2004 07:46.32
Great article. Yup, despite it not seeming it at the time, the music is loud. If you take small breaks in the night then it can help, as it's all about long term exposure, but I've got earplugs made, and they were the best £150 I've spent. I wear them to a lot of the nights I go to, though not all, and not when I'm djing. I want my ears to last, simple. The damage is irreversible.
From: Richard Launch on 8th Jul 2004 09:50.39
Pardon..?
From: bunny on 8th Jul 2004 10:10.12
Excellent article, very informative + intelligently written
I've been wearing earplugs for about a year + can't acutally go clubbing without them now - I realise now how much damage my esrs were sustaining without them.
From: Pete M on 8th Jul 2004 10:42.57
I wear my plugs on the rare occassions that I go clubbing...which, as I say, is rare. They work though and that's the main thing. Good article.
From: Prozak on 8th Jul 2004 10:43.45
WHAT? CAN'T HEAR! No its not true, i can hear, thanx to my ear plugs, so remember children, PLUG'EM IN!
From: brad duke on 8th Jul 2004 15:00.21
Wicked article - Earplugs HEAR i come!!!
From: sazzy on 8th Jul 2004 16:16.33
Add your comments here ! Thanks everyone! Really glad you liked it - your comments were wicked!
From: Duracell Bunny on 8th Jul 2004 17:01.43
Best £160 I've spent too!!! Much easier to talk to people in clubs too!
From: karl davis on 8th Jul 2004 19:29.07
great article. i have rigning in my ear's bout 8 months now its shit. got ear plugs for clubbing but they cut sound 2 much for mixing so dont use em when djing,
From: Monkey Monkeyson on 9th Jul 2004 08:30.27
proof that hard house is bad for your health! i say ban it all!
From: Lizzie.Wiggle on 9th Jul 2004 09:48.18
I been using earplugs for the last 3 years and I prefer it in a club as you can actually hear people better - def recommend it
From: *Ting* on 9th Jul 2004 16:28.48
Excellent article. Funnily enough I went today for my fitting for my ear plugs. by the sounds of it, i made the right choice and just in the nick of time too!
Nice one!
From: dj toasty on 11th Jul 2004 16:31.31
will they stay in when i pull those moves of i wonder???
From: Alex Parsons on 12th Jul 2004 08:55.29
Spot on article!
For those of you who can't afford the £150... I discovered a cheaper (also really effective) alternative in Boots. They're called 'EarGuards' and contain 2 different sized pairs. The kids size is great for those with tiny ears like mine!
From: Nomi Sunrider on 12th Jul 2004 11:32.43
Great stuff, good to see a well researched and written article. I've been wearing ear plugs for a while now and wouldn't go without them.
From: Bosch on 13th Jul 2004 22:11.56
G R E A T A R T I C L E ! Nice to see some scientific articles about our favourite hobby! Makes a refreshing change to the usual format. E G G C L U B - use the 'noise aware club' tag to your advantage. People are not aware they are damaging their ears when clubbing. You are leading the way, SHOUT ABOUT IT!! (not too loud though :0)
From: HHDJ on 15th Jul 2004 09:50.25
I KNOW WHAT IT'S IKE TO WORK IN A NOISY ENVIRIOMENT. I'M ONE OF THOUSANDS OF WORKERS AROUND THE WORLD WHO ACTUALLY DO GET EXPOSAED TO JET AIRCRAFT TAKING OFF FOR 8HRS A DAY, SO EAR DEFENDERS/PLUGS ARE THE NORM, SO WEARING THEM OUT CLUBBING IS LIKE 2ND NATURE TO USE.
PLEASE EXCUSE THE SHOUTING.......THERE'S A JUMBO TAKING OFF
From: argh_01 on 20th Jul 2004 18:10.37
while earplugs are no doubt a good idea if you go clubbing a lot, there's been some recent research that shows things might not be as bad as the health & safety lot make out.
it turns out that clubbers tend not to have worse hearing than non-clubbers. and furthermore, city people, exposed to a lot of noise day-to-day, have BETTER hearing than country folk who live in a quiet environment.
the explanation seems to be that the ear, like other parts of the body, requires a good work-out to maintain proper function.
sure, if you're exposed to a jackhammer every day, then your hearing will suffer. so DJs have to be especially careful. but if you go clubbing once a week, as long as the sound isn't too far over 100dB (arbitrary figure, but i suspect it's something like that), your ears won't mind too much.
tinnitus is a good warning sign that it's been TOO loud. happily, many clubs don't have the music so loud as to cause this.
so be aware of what your body's telling you (pain/tinnitus), and wear earplugs if you go out a lot, but don't panic and stop clubbing (as many of you, i'm sure, were considering doing  )
From: steelo kuchiki on 21st Jan 2005 17:41.54
what did you say?
From: Darz on 21st Jan 2005 19:00.32
there's always one! ;-)
From: Toomz on 21st Jan 2005 19:35.35
My right ear is still ringing since the new years celebrations.. am pretty fucked.
From: GMReq on 21st Jan 2005 21:28.45
Excellent piece . i hate the popping and weird pressures in my ears after clubbing. i havent worn ear plugs so am now certainly going to get some.
i wasnt aware that ear plugs minimized volume whilst still allowing speech to be heard normally. I have had some nights recently when i am having a great time, music is great and then the dj decides it's a good idea to really turn up the volume. all i can say is that what was 'havin it' turns into i'm leaving.
Some i actively i avoid due to terrible acoustics and 'sour spots' on the dance floor where the sound is unbearable.
Clubs based in proper auditoriums generally have the best acoustics and sound and make the experience that much more pleasurable.
From: Ian H on 23rd Jan 2005 12:23.33
I bought some Elacin ER-20s a couple of weeks ago and they're worth every penny, I come out of a club and my ears aren't ringing and I wore them between sessions at a back to back set last night and found my ears weren't tired and I could hear everything in the headphones a lot better. Highly recommended.
From: ~deleted3566 on 24th Jan 2005 00:00.05
i haven't had ringing ears for about a year now, and i don't wear ear plugs...
is that good or bad ? 
From: Anja on 24th Jan 2005 09:46.36
I've worn earplugs in the past to BIG events where there will be big rigs and come end of the night they are a godsend.
No ringing at all, and I've still heard all the tunes from the night before.
Good article and good work.
From: benz on 24th Jan 2005 10:16.31
Well done, about time someone spread the word.
I've had tinnitus in one ear for several years now, and although I don't notice it anymore, I do if i forget my earplugs. Lost my moulded ones  so have been using the EarGuards from Boots that Alex Parsons was talking about.....they do the trick tho! They have started selling different sizes separately now so they are £5 a pair basically. Definately worth it!
As for moulded ones - WORD OF ADVICE - make sure they give you the -15dB filter, cos the -25 ones i had made everything far too quiet and i had to stand next to speakers all night!!!
From: Joz on 24th Jan 2005 11:08.14
Great piece. After a few mates have done it i've gone and bought some proper ear plugs too. And Benz - yes the -15's are what the woman that moulded them recommended
From: Exiled Angel on 25th Jan 2005 09:34.40
Great piece! What's even more great is the huge response from hfers. Good to see so many people already have earplugs and are being responsible. I hope wearing ear plugs becomes less exception than norm.
If in doubt, it sounds like it's an idea to spare £5 at Boots and hear the difference for yourself!
From: MR KETley on 25th Jan 2005 11:01.00
a rather inlightening article and allthough being safe normally does sound like something your mum goes on about, in this instance its well worth being carefull and takin note. imagine going raving and barely being able to hear rock the spot at 165 bpm, now that would suck!
From: Batmanuel on 29th Jan 2005 10:16.26
quality article and certainly eye opening in the levels of noise that we listen to. i wonder how loud the fridge would be rated as always find it to loud now..................i a worthwhile purchase i reckon :thumbup:
From: Dallas on 31st Jan 2005 10:23.37
i had tinnitus for about a week so started wearing earplugs. i've worn earplugs out a few times and still tend to get the ringing in my ears, although obviously not as bad as when i don't. so i reckon i'll have to go for the £150 jobbies when i have the spare cash.
From: Jolene Redtrip on 2nd Feb 2005 14:40.52
Excellent article!!!
I wear 'Muffles ear plugs' which are boots own brand, I thoroughy recomend them. You can cut them in half so you get double the amount and you can hardly notice them in your ears.
From: Ian Edwards on 2nd Feb 2005 22:56.19
i've been telling everybody about this problem for a few months now. i have a pretty bad wirling noise' so i bought the professional ear plugs with filters, very expensive but you can't put a price on your health, right!. i think i was a bit to late though cos i can't get rid of it now. dont wait untel you have it too it may be too late for you also.
From: sissan on 4th Feb 2005 09:37.06
Great article, really made me think! I'll go and buy some today :-)
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