The New Rubbers?

I remember the first time I saw someone wearing earplugs casually. My friend Christa and I were at a rock concert at Pacific Standard Tavern, which boasts New Haven’s most modern sound system outside of College Street Music Hall, when I noticed two blue cones protruding from her ears.

My first response was alarm. Christa went to more concerts than anyone I knew. I felt betrayed, as though the earplugs were an admission that Christa really was not there for the music, just for the scene.

You have something in your ears, I told her.

She turned and said, ​“I know.”

I barely heard her with my naked ears. I realized I hardly heard myself. But she had heard me.

From small clubs to big theaters, music shows have been getting louder for at least a generation. But earplug use hasn’t caught up. Is it starting to?

In between songs, music fans are having that debate.

According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, hearing protectors enhance speech comprehension in loud places the way sunglasses enhance vision in extreme brightness. The rule of thumb is that noise damages your hearing if you are at arm’s length and have to shout to make yourself heard.

So basically, every rock, rap, or electronic concert I have ever been to has subtly chipped away at my inner ear.

Christa started wearing earplugs after a music festival friend of hers developed a nasty case of tinnitus, a constant ringing in your ears that makes it nearly impossible to sleep without some sort of white noise — an open window, a television humming — to mitigate the high-pitched whine in your head.

Studies haven’t conclusively documented the benefits or earplugs, but do suggest that they do eliminate at least some short-term hearing loss, according to this report from Reuters. One key factor: Using them right.

In an interview with the Independent, Dr. Elias Michaelides, director of the Yale Center for Hearing and Balance, confirmed research indicating that as many as one in five teens suffer from hearing loss, and those numbers are only getting worse. The latest study, from JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, concludes that loud music at live events is at least partly responsible for that loss.

“We don’t know if younger ears are more vulnerable,” Dr. Michaelides said, ​“but when you are young you still have a hearing reserve so you might not notice the damage at all.” Damage can be caused by the cumulative effects of loudness over time, not just noise trauma. The inner ear never regenerates.

Michaelides explained exactly what is happening when your ears start ringing.

“Essentially, the cochlea of your inner ears contain long rows of haired cells,” he said. When these hairs pick up vibrations from sound waves, those are converted into nerve signals. Really loud sound damages the cell hairs through over-stimulation. The eardrum only tears when it pops, which is unusual unless you are standing close to a grenade or smacked directly in your ear.”

It’s not hard to understand how these cell hairs get overstimulated. The distortion in the sound in this video from a (really good) Mates of State show at BAR is because of the sheer volume of the music, and this video was shot from behind the house’s speaker, not in front of it.

Michaelides regularly sees the worst cases, those who come in after days or weeks of constant ringing. His patients often admit that the last show they went to was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Hearing protection is a valid medical preventative precaution,” he said.

Medical plans rarely cover earplugs; if musicians declare their creative income, earplugs should be tax deductible. Prescription earplugs can range into the hundreds of dollars, but many are happy with what they’ve gotten. The over-the-counter versions are cheaper — a pack of 14 pairs of foam earplugs runs about $5 at Walgreens — but they are possibly too effective. In the middle of the spectrum are earplugs like those from Etymotic, which lower decibel levels without much muffling.

Few people are aware of these options. After all, Dr. Dre has yet to endorse earplugs.

Too Cool Not To Go Deaf?

The fault for music lovers’ hearing loss does not lie entirely with the music industry. Many veteran musicians wear their near-deafness as a badge of honor. Social media reactions to a prompt of mine on Facebook about earplugs ranged from meek affirmations of use to outright hostility. (“Honestly, if you wear protection you’re a fucking pussy, and you can quote me on that.”)

Some musicians are in the middle. As Jon Stone (10,000 Blades, Clenn Planetts) weighed in, earplugs ​“are important, but they prevent me from getting that visceral connection with the music. As a bandleader and guitarist I need to hear higher frequencies. I always end up taking them out.”

“I know I should wear them,” said Byron, a guitarist who was given $500 musicians’ earplugs for majoring in music industry in college. ​“They’re just so uncomfortable, and they do change the sound. Especially for improvisational music it’s absolutely important to hear the crowd, or even if one of the stage lights is on the fritz or something.”

Other musicians, like Elliot, who plays bass in a hardcore punk rock band, could not care less. Sadly, those musicians at the highest risk for tinnitus are often the least likely to protect their hearing.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 115 decibels is acceptable for only 15 minutes of exposure. Today’s concert PA systems are usually designed for 120 decibels at the sound station halfway through the concert hall. Since the 1970s American venues have been locked in an amplification arms race, with fans as exuberant victims. Not all venues are deaf to the woes of their clientele, however. Cafe Nine sells earplugs for a dollar, about one pair every other day. These can be a bit muffling but they do the trick for the louder bands the club brings to its compact space. The Independent’s Lucy Gellman has worn earplugs since her night in the College Street Music Hall photo pit at the front of the stage, near the speakers. After covering Modest Mouse, she could not hear for three whole days.

Earscreen?

There is some hope for earplugs. After all, sunscreen caught on.

A 2014 study published in The Hearing Journal gave one-size-fits-all music earplugs for 16 weeks to college student-age test subjects who frequented dance clubs. According to noise exposure standards, subjects should not have spent more than 30 minutes inside. With the earplugs, the effective noise level was lower — between 81 and 87 decibels — allowing exposure for five hours or more. So the subjects could club all night without experiencing common reactions to prolonged noise, such as anxiety, irritability, spikes in pulse and blood pressure, and excess stomach acid. After the first week the students’ comfort ratings for earplugs spiked. By the end of the experiment users expressed increased enjoyment of music while wearing earplugs.

Christa still wears the blue spiral earplugs she bought at Walgreens for all the shows she goes to. She even carries around a double pack of silicone strips that look like chewing gum. They roll into earplugs at a moment’s notice, and they fit right in her wallet.

As for myself, I have found new and exciting uses for earplugs, even beyond sparing my hearing when I’m covering a show at Pacific Standard Tavern. They provide a measure of peace during long walks through the city, one-room offices, train rides, and the mysterious vampire raves that transpire at a location near my apartment every single night between 1 and 4 a.m. For someone prone to distraction, the sound isolation earplugs provide is more than enough for me to turn any park bench into an oasis.