Summer is finally here. That means it’s festival time for me and many thousands of other music-lovers.
I do love a festival; I love the music – enjoying my favourite bands and finding new favourites, meeting familiar faces from the gigs I go to during the year, trying out all the different food, and drinking a lovely cold pint of cider sitting in the sun.
I also love playing ‘spot the ear protection’! As each year passes, I’ve noticed more and more people wearing some form of ear plugs at gigs and festivals, and I am 100% for it. In fact, if you’re heading to Firevolt Rock Festival in Stockport this summer, you’ll find me handing out free ear protection to anyone who wants it.
How much music is too much?
Hearing loss is very closely associated with having tinnitus. And noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. So, yes, going to gigs and festivals does carry the risk of gaining (or exacerbating) your tinnitus, and/or causing hearing loss.
How can we judge whether what we’re hearing is at a safe listening volume? For starters, we need to remember that music isn’t the only sound that we’ll be hearing at a festival. On top of the music there’s also the ambient noise of the festival to add in too – people singing and chatting, any rides that make noise, and the multiple generators that the stands and food outlets use.
If the sound of the festival reaches 85 dB, you’re seriously risking hearing loss/worse tinnitus if you listen to it for more than 8 hours without ear protection. Given that most festival days run from midday to at least 11pm, and most of us stay in the arena for the whole day, that means you’re going to hit your safe listening limit well before the headliners hit the stage.
Let’s face it, the sound of most festivals is way more than 85dB. And this is where the maths gets interesting! Above 85dB your safe listening time is cut in half for every 3dB rise in noise levels. For example, you can listen to noise at 85dB for up to 8 hours. If the sound goes up to 88dB, it is safe to listen to those same sounds for 4 hours. And if the sound goes up to 91dB, your safe listening time is down to 2 hours1https://www.asha.org/public/hearing/loud-noise-dangers/.
However good your maths, this all adds up to ear protection being essential.
It’s all about balance
Having said that, life is for living isn’t it? And I am definitely going to be as close to the front as I can get for my favourite bands. Festivals for me are about creating a balance between sound exposure, sleep, drinking (alcohol and water), sun and fun!
Here’s how I manage my tinnitus at festivals:
- I chop and change where I stand. There are some bands where I will, no question, be hanging over the barrier in front of the stage if I can elbow my way there. But when they’ve finished, I’ll head straight to the back of the crowd. I might wander to the bar, maybe grab some food, then head to listen to the next band on my wish list. Whatever I do, I’ll make sure I’m a good distance away from any speaker for the next few sets.
- I wear ear plugs. These are absolutely non-negotiable. I don’t have a huge amount of hearing left, and I’m keen to keep what I have! I use filtered earplugs from Earpeace. They knock the volume down without muffling the music or making it distorted. They come with a choice of filters, so I wear the strongest filter when I’m in the thick of the crowd near the front or in an enclosed space. Depending on how loud the ambient noise of the festival is (see above) I might choose a lighter filter if I am listening further away from the stage.
- And yes, that does mean I take my hearing aids out! I recognise that seems completely counter-intuitive when the point of being at a festival is to listen to the bands. But unless you are severe/profoundly deaf you’ll still hear the music. If you really don’t want to take them out, then turn the volume down.
- I take hearing breaks. Whether I’m at a large festival or a small one, I always make a point of wandering off to some quieter areas to “switch off”. I take my hearing aids out if I’m still wearing them and give my ears a break from as much audio input as possible. Even at the big festivals like Download there are always quieter spaces. I might wander around the stalls, or even head back to the tent for some downtime. This is really important if you’re at a multi-day festival. Our poor ears have got to take in a LOT of noise in just a few days. So the more breaks you can give them the better.
- I keep an eye on how much I’m drinking whether those drinks are alcoholic or not. Keeping hydrated really does help keep your inner ear healthy, so I alternate between pints of cider and bottles of water during the day. If it’s lovely and warm (we can hope!) then I increase the water to cider ratio. Hard as it can be to judge the colour of your pee in a portaloo, if it looks sunny yellow or darker, get some water down you! This also helps ward of hangovers which, I have learnt from personal experience, really don’t help the tinnitus experience!
- And finally, I try and find shade when I can (yes, that’s me being an optimist again!). Seriously though, spending all day in an arena with even moderate sun can help ramp up both dehydration and tinnitus. So it’s worth sticking on a hat and finding some shade from time to time.
And after the festival?
When we climb in the car to make our way home the sound system stays firmly off. It’s time to give my ears as long a break as I can manage. I tend to keep it quiet for a couple of days after I get home as well, or at least play more calming music with the volume down nice and low. Even when I’ve taken all the steps I’ve outlined above, my ears will still have had a big workout and will appreciate a bit of a rest. And I’m grateful to them for every note, every lyric and every laugh I have heard.