Darned Adults: Music Too Loud

I don't mean to brag, but I have my own audiologist. I now feel superior to many others who (like me) didn't even know that word recently. While I still can't spell audiologist without looking on her card, I have one and you should too.

I'm one of the few people who have others ask me to turn down the music if we are driving in my car. Being a drummer, I love dynamic music, ranging from a whisper to a roar. That said, I'm also very protective of my ears, because I read the studies of hearing loss and my ears used to ring the next morning after going to the club. If I do listen loud, I'm careful to not do it too long, and make sure I give my ears a break after a few minutes of intensity. I really don't want a set of hearing aids along with my AARP membership when I hit retirement age.

Over two years ago, I invested in musicians grade earplugs, and I blogged about it in the article named "Practicing Safe Salsa - Ear Protection".

Recently I lost one of my custom, musicians earplugs (shown below), using the ER-15 filters. They are designed to reduce the overall volume by 15dB, but not change the overall sound quality.
It's hard to complain as they have served me well for a couple years, but when I noticed one was lost, I realized I just spent around $170 dancing that evening. For what you invest, they give you a free little pouch to keep them in and I faithfully used it 3-4 days per week over the last couple years.

After losing one plug, I danced for about two weeks with one earplug, and left the other ear unprotected. What an amazing study in contrast. I would leave the club and one ear felt like I'd just gotten off an airplane, when my ears hadn't equalized yet and everything was still muffled. The ear that had the plug, however, was hearing clearly and comfortably.

Your ears partially shut down to protect themselves when sounds are too loud for too long, and the next morning I could hear a slight ringing after I woke up, but only in one ear! Seeing the difference, I started using a swimmers ear plug for the one plug that was lost. They block way too much sound and change the nature of the music so I used my remaining good plug and put up with the swimmers plug until my new custom fit plugs arrive.

After years of dancing, I still maintain that most of the DJs and sound engineers are partially deaf OR they stand behind the speakers, so they don't get the direct effect of their volume.

This week I went back to "my audiologist" and had new molds made for a new set of plugs. She took another mold of my ears and they've been sent to a lab in Colorado where they use the mold to make my custom set. Since my original set was created a couple years ago, they have found that by opening your mouth during the fitting process, the plugs fit a little tighter and do a better job. They have this little block to hold your mouth open just the right amount to make the plugs fit better. In theory this means my new set will work even better than the old.

If you are in the LA area and want custom fitted plugs, you can contact my audiologist, Jami Tanihana (M.A., CCC-A) via "JamiTani AT pacbell.net" or send me private mail for her phone number. She does an excellent job and takes pride in getting the mold exactly right for you. Jami fits lots of famous musicians with their custom in-ear monitors and she knows how to get them right. (I don't use complete e-mail addresses as spammers look for the @ sign and grab addresses used on the net. Substitute my "AT" with the "@" sign and remove the spaces to get her real e-mail address.)

My previous article also references some less expensive (under $20) plugs that are not custom, but work great for ladies with longer hair. With very short hair (mine) they are noticeable, but that is better than losing your hearing from dancing.

While I hate having to spend $170 on ear plugs, after using my old set for two years, I'm convinced that they're worth every penny. Once you've worn them a few times, I guarantee you'll never go back to unprotected ears. Years from now, you'll thank me, and you'll be able to hear me say, "you're welcome!"

We were incompatible in a lot of ways. Like for example, I was a night person,
and he didn't like me.
-Wendy Leibman