Protect Your Hearing During Spring Festivals and Outdoor Events

Spring is the perfect time to enjoy the great outdoors again. Flowers are blooming, your favorite musicians are playing, and festivals are everywhere. With the right precautions, you can keep enjoying outdoor music and festivals far into the future. 

It’s essential to protect your delicate ear anatomy, which helps you connect with the world around you. Learn more about outdoor event hearing safety at spring festivals — and you can use these essential hearing protection tips year-round!

Common Spring Events That Pose Risks to Your Hearing 

You deserve to enjoy outdoor festivities during the spring. However, noisy events can damage your hearing over time if you don’t take spring festival hearing care seriously. 

Some events that put your hearing at risk include:

• Concerts (indoor and outdoor)
• Festivals 
• Carnivals
• Parades
• Crowded sports games
• Barbecues and cookouts with loud music
• Big parties
• Loud graduation events 
• Other stage performances 

While all of these bring plenty of spring fun and joy to your life, they’re not worth ruining your hearing. 

How Loud Environments Affect Hearing

It’s important to protect ears at concerts and other loud events because amplified sounds can damage the small structures in your ears that help you hear. 

How Hearing Works

Hearing works in a series of steps. First, sound waves enter your outer ear and travel through your ear canal. The waves then reach your eardrum, which vibrates in response to the sound. 

This vibration triggers the movement of three small inner ear bones. After this, the vibrations travel through your inner ear and eventually reach your auditory nerve. This nerve transmits the auditory signal to your brain, where it can be processed and understood. 

All of this happens almost instantaneously. Your ears are constantly picking up sounds from the world around you. 

The Anatomy of Hearing Damage

When you spend time around extremely loud noises, like at concerts or festivals, your inner ear anatomy becomes damaged. The sound waves overwhelm your middle and inner ear. Tiny hair cells that transmit sound through your inner ear may stop working properly. 

Hearing damage may cause you to struggle with sounds below a certain volume threshold. You may also experience constant ringing in your ears (tinnitus) or be unable to hear higher-pitched sounds. 

Consequences of Long-Term Hearing Problems

All of these symptoms of hearing damage make conversations more difficult, which can lead to social isolation. It also makes it harder to fully enjoy future events, like festivals and parties. 

Hearing damage can take a toll on your quality of life. Learning and implementing a few noise-induced hearing loss prevention tips can help you protect your ears. 

Implementing Hearing Safety Outdoors: Hearing Protection Tips for Loud Spring Events 

It doesn’t take much to protect your hearing at noisy events. Follow these hearing protection tips to keep enjoying spring festivals for years to come. 

Always Keep a Pair of Earplugs With You

Earplugs reduce the decibel level that makes it to your inner ear, effectively “turning down the volume” on the world around you. You should always bring a pair to any loud event, especially if you’ll be attending for longer than 30 minutes. Hearing damage can start to set in around this time. 

There are two types of commonly used earplugs: silicone and foam. Silicone earplugs are generally more comfortable, and they’re reusable. However, foam earplugs block out more noise (between 30 and 44 decibels). 

When you’re deciding which kind of earplugs to buy, consider how loud the event will be and how important reusability is for you. Both options are effective, but silicone earplugs are waterproof and easy to clean. Foam earplugs are usually single-use, but they offer superior hearing protection. 

Stay Away From Speakers 

The noise will be the loudest right around any speakers that are transmitting music or speech. Try to stay as far away from each speaker as possible. 

Depending on the size of the event and the scope of the speaker system, each one can emit over 100 decibels. This volume can begin damaging your hearing within mere seconds of close exposure. 

Outdoor event speakers are designed to ensure everyone can hear what’s going on at any spot in the crowd. It’s tempting to set up camp right in front of stages and speakers, but try to resist this urge — your hearing will thank you later. 

Take Breaks From Loud Performances

You don’t have to hang around the stage all day or night. It’s good for your ears to get a break from loud noise every 30 minutes to an hour. In the meantime, you can grab some food and drinks, shop at merch tables, or enjoy other festivities. 

Noise breaks greatly reduce the chances that you’ll sustain permanent hearing damage from loud festivals and concerts. Change up your location every once in a while to give your ears some TLC.

How Hearing Protection Tips Can Enhance Your Enjoyment of Spring Events

Following a few hearing protection tips can pay off in the long run. People who protect their hearing are far less likely to experience tinnitus, noise desensitization, and trouble hearing conversations. All of these problems create frustration and require you to turn the volume up on everything to hear it properly. 

You’ll experience lasting fun at all kinds of spring events if you protect your hearing now — before the damage occurs. A few simple steps, such as wearing earplugs and taking hearing breaks, can allow you to continue enjoying spring concerts, festivals, parades, and much more.

Having Post-Event Hearing Troubles? Consult an Audiologist 

Many people experience ringing in their ears and difficulty hearing after extremely loud events. At Happy Ears Hearing Center, we’re here to get to the bottom of your hearing troubles. 

The sooner you address your hearing problems, the better. Consulting with an audiologist will give you the tools you need to prevent further damage and treat your existing symptoms. 

If you’re located near Gilbert, Surprise, or Peoria, AZ, book an appointment with our team at Happy Ears Hearing Center!