This page is dedicated to your hearing. Maybe you'll stop and think about something you probably take for granted. Hearing loss can be very gradual, so from day to day you may not realize that damage may be occurring to your ears.
As a person who has enjoyed many rock concerts and played
drums for over 20 years, I'm lucky I haven't done any serious damage to my
hearing. Some mornings after a show, I would notice that things sounded kind of
dull to me. (And I don't mean in a boring way.) After a day or so it would
seem everything was back to normal. As I became aware of this condition, I began
to realize I needed to do something prevent it from occuring. Sometimes I
would
wear earplugs during rehearsals, but I prefered
not to because they limited the quality of sound as well as the volume.
I wasn't consistent in using protection and knew there had to be an answer.
Then I discovered a whole different kind of hearing protection
through the efforts of HEARNET. They
are made from an earmold that is custom fit to your ear, and use an attenuator
that reduces volume evenly across the audio spectrum. The result is similar
to "turning down the volume". You can select how much reduction
you want when you order them. They cost around $120, and are probably available
from your local hospital through the audiologists’ department. It’s a small
price to protect a lifetime of hearing.
I can't tell you how
awesome these
little guys are. They insert easily, and are visually almost unnoticeable.
I insert them before I enter a club, this way I
am used to the lower levels of sound around me. I can actually hear so much
more detail because they reduce the reverberation and harshness of loud rooms. The only
side effect of wearing them is that I must force myself to talk a
little louder in a noisy room, because I can hear my own voice easier than
others can. This is especially helpful when singing because it's easier to hear
yourself and keep your notes from wandering off! You should check them out
if you have a need for them.
I invite you to visit the following links for information on hearing-
Coastal Hearing Aid Center | ||
Hearing Loss Resources | ||
The Canadian Hearing Society | ||