What are the Best Earplugs for Concerts?

There’s nothing better than going to see a live musical concert, especially if it’s an artist that you love. Indeed, for many people, the absolute dream life is having one great concert after another to go to, week after week. However, while this would bring plenty of happy memories, it’s important to think about the impact that concerts can have on your ears. In order to be as entertaining and immersive as possible, concert venues typically invest in high-end, high-capacity speakers that can blow the roof off the venue. That’s good for creating an immersive experience but terrible for the ears. There’s an upper limit for how much volume your ears can safely experience, and at concerts, this upper limit is usually blown right by. Fortunately, it’s not as if your only option is to avoid concerts if you want to keep your hearing intact. There is another option, and that’s to wear earplugs. People often only associate earplugs for periods when they want to sleep, but that’s not the only time when they’re appropriate: they can also be used to protect the ears.

Why wear them

And it’s important that you do wear them, especially if you’re going to concerts on a regular basis, and even more so if you like to be near the front, as close to the stage as possible. The setup of music venues is still pretty basic; all the speakers are stacked at the front. They have to be loud so that people way back in the nosebleed seats can hear the music well. That’s good for them but less good for the people that want to be right at the front. They’re standing extremely close to the speakers, which means they’re receiving the full power of the volume. Think of it like this: only around 85 decibels are needed to damage the ears. At live music concerts, the decibel level can exceed 100 – and that’s at the back of the venue, not at the front, where things are even louder. To put it into some context, heavy traffic in a city is around 80 decibels, yet you wouldn’t stand next to that if you had the option. That you like the sound being produced at the concert isn’t important – the damage is taking place anyway. If you’ve ever been to a concert and had some difficulty hearing afterwards, then you’ll have experienced temporary hearing damage. Hopefully, it would just stay temporary. However, if you’re repeatedly exposed to loud concerts, then you could find that you accelerate the hearing loss process. There are many celebrated musicians who have experienced hearing loss as a result of repeated exposure to loud music. In fact, if you take a look at any number of musicians from the past, then you’ll find that it’s more likely than not that they’ve got some form of hearing loss. To name just a handful of people: Phil Collins, Pete Townshend, Neil Young and Brian Johnson all have hearing issues. Indeed, the latter had such severe problems that he had to give up playing, at least for a few years. These famous musicians damaged their ears because they didn’t know the damage that was being caused by playing loud concerts. But now we do, so be sure to take steps to protect your ears.

Finding the right ones for you

There are many different earplugs on the market, but not all will be correct for you, if the primary aim of getting the earplugs is to attend concerts. If you’re going to get the ones that are right for you, then you should look at ones that offer protection yet which also let sounds through. This way, you’ll be able to enjoy all the music without damaging your ears. They’re recommended for people who go to concerts a lot, nightclubs or even musicians who have to play frequently. There are typically a few different filters available. You can choose from 9dB, 15dB or 25dB. Other earplugs will offer protection, but they won’t let any sound through – for example, ones that are used for work in loud environments. If you want to know more about getting earplugs that’ll help to enjoy concerts without damaging your ears, then be sure to get in touch with us at Hearing Wellness Centre. We offer a range of solutions, and can also help if your ears are already damaged. Simply give us a call at (844) 663-9433, and we’ll be happy to schedule an appointment for you.