Now Hear This - You're Not A Starfish, Wear Ear Plugs

Bishop And Rook will be offering free ear plugs during Night #1 of the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble!

Fun fact: Most starfish can regenerate damaged limbs. All humans cannot regenerate damaged hearing.

Studies have shown that the decibel level of a loud rock concert registers at approximately 120dB. The maximum exposure to 120dB of sound without ear protection is a whopping 15 minutes a day before you risk damaging your ear tissue, leading to permanent hearing loss. (The average rock concert runs around 240 minutes.) That’s just a scooch below the loudest recommended exposure WITH hearing protection (at 140dB).

Visit the Rebuilder merch table during Night #1 of the Rock 'N' Roll Rumble for a free pair of ear plugs (while supplies last), complimentary of Bishop And Rook music blog.

Let’s put your decibel intake into perspective:

• A whisper is about 20dB
• A rock concert is between 110 dB and 120dB, and can be as high as 140dB in front of the speakers.
• A jet engine is about 140 - 180dB

Sounds greater than 85dB can cause hearing loss after a few hours. Over time, repeated exposure to loud noise and music can cause permanent hearing loss.

Standard over the counter foam ear plugs can successfully reduce up to 30 decibels when used properly.

You're not a starfish, wear ear plugs. 

WARNING SIGNS

Be alert to some of these warning signs, which could suggest that you’ve been exposed to hazardous noise:

• You hear ringing or buzzing (tinnitus) in your ears after exposure to noise.
• You notice that you can hear people talking, but you have difficulty understanding them, after exposure to noise.
• You experience "fullness" in your ears after leaving a noisy area.

Statistics retrieved from:

MedlinePlus “Hearing Loss and Music” 2012 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000495.htm 

The NY Times “Audiometry” 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/audiology/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier