TINNITUS- Can you hear that?

WILL.I.AM…NOT.HEARING.YOU

WILL.I.AM may be the smooth, carefree multi-millionaire that we know behind the music group, The Black Eyed Peas. Recently though we’ve heard of something he’s not so comfortable about. The 35-year-old has revealed he suffers from tinnitus — a constant ringing in his ears. Set on mostly due to the nature of his work, constantly listening to loud music and noises has taken it’s toll on the superstar.

The condition has left him with no other option but to make music because he can only ignore the irritating sound when he is surrounded by noise.Will.i.am says: “I don’t know what silence sounds like any more. Music is the only thing which eases my pain.

“I can’t be still. Work calms me down. I can’t be quiet as that’s when I notice the ringing in my ears. There’s always a beep there every day, all day. Like now. I don’t know exactly how long I’ve had this but it’s gradually got worse.”

 

Earbuds vs. Headphones. Which one?

So I’ve been thinking a lot about the use of iPods & portable music devices and have read a few interesting articles on it. It seems a lot of people don’t really realise how much difference having the right earphone will change their listening patterns and aural health.

The first misconception is that either one will do as much damage as the other, depending on how loud the person chooses to have it. Now as much as this is a factor in a person’s aural health it’s not the only cause of the condition, and in fact, just by having the right type of headphone, we can significantly decrease the volumes at which we listen to music.

Although it may seem convenient, in-ear earbuds are in fact much more dangerous than over the ear headphones. They penetrate the ear cavity exposing your ears to more dangerous levels. Not only this, but they require the user to listen to their music at a much higher volume. They offer little noise-cancellation for the user, meaning that if the level of environmental noise around the person increases, they will be tempted to turn up the volume. And when we really think about it, some of the most common times when we tend to listen to our iPods, are in noise environments. On trains, busses, at they gym, in a cafe. These all have varying noise levels and the moment that the outside noise starts to increase, we decide to raise the volume.

Now, I’m not saying that if everyone switched to over the ear headphones, it will solve Noise Induced Hearing loss. But when we consider how many people own iPods and MP3 players worldwide, and how many people we see in every facet of our lives listening to music on their white iPod headphones, it must be said that we are exposing ourselves even more so, to serious damage of our ears.

To read more on this debate, and for some recommendations on some good headphones, follow the links below:

Good information about healthy use of headphones:

http://www.squidoo.com/best-way-to-protect-your-hearing-in-using-earphones

Good types and brands of headphones, including a more ergonomic type of in-ear earbud:

http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/best-headphones-top-10.html

Try on a new set of shoes

What would it be like to live with hearing loss? How would it affect your everyday life?

I’d highly suggest taking a few minutes of out of your day, and listening to the below simulation by Better Hearing Institution. A great website, particularly for this post. It simulates the typical effects of hearing loss in a number of situation, and really puts this cause into perspective. I think it’s about time to realise what damage we’re really doing to our ears when we listen to loud music for long periods of time.

Better Hearing Institute – Hearing Loss Simulator

Why isn’t aural health the same as dental health? We brush our teeth regularly (well I hope so anyway), but we don’t take proper steps to ensure our ears will be functional for the rest of our lives. Let me introduce you to “YOHOSOE”, otherwise known as “You only have one set of ears”. Any damage we do to our ears, cannot be healed. Losing your hearing is a one way street.

Follow the link to take part in this simulation
https://www.betterhearing.org/hearing_loss/hearing_loss_simulator/index.cfm

Festivals Festivals Festivals

Scenes from this year’s Parklife Festival

Okay so coming up to summer and big periods of music festivals in Australia, I thought It’d be appropriate to give out a warning big risks of these seemingly harmless events.

Whenever you hear about some kind of damage or health risk at a festival, it’s never in relation to hearing is it? It’s always in relation to drugs, alcohol, or dehydration. But here is something that is never considered. Although it is only ever the few who get caught up in the world of excessive drinking, drug consumption and other dangerous activities, every single person who attends a music festival is exposed to dangerous levels of noise. These festivals can last 12 hours of a day, where people can listen to tens of acts in various environments including outdoors, in tents, or with headphones(‘silent discos’). Festival organisers need to take some social responsibility and warn it’s go-getters of the dangers of listening to excessive loud music. I don’t think that the majority of the people attending these festivals know exactly what they are putting their ears through, and if they do, why don’t they care about it?

What is it about today’s society that will knowingly shrug off the thought of losing their hearing before losing their hair? Hopefully by the end of this campaign, this will change.

Listen carefully listeners.

Did you hear about?

If you’re one of the 173 million iPod users out there, you’re probably reading this with your headphones in.
Take them out now. Even if it’s only for a few minutes while you read this blog.

It seems like common knowledge nowadays that listening to loud music will lead to serious levels of hearing damage. Although, even though people are aware of the apparent risks of listening to loud music, they do little or nothing about it.

‘Did you hear about?’ is an organisation that will set out to spread knowledge about the serious issue of noise-induced hearing loss. ‘Like’ us on Facebook or follow us on twitter to keep up to date with ‘Did you hear about?’.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Did-you-hear-about/365172756896230

https://twitter.com/didyouhearabou1