More warnings from the Royal National Institute For Deaf People regarding the effect loud music is having on all our hearing, as the charity launched a competition to encourage design students to come up with a way of making ear plugs more attractive.
The charity says that young people who regularly go to venues playing overly loud music risk damaging their hearing long term. They want more people to wear ear plugs, which can reduce the harmful effect of loud music without necessarily affecting the enjoyment of a gig, but admit that many people resist using plugs because they look a bit stupid. They hope the competition can find a way of making the plugs more attractive to use.
The RNID's Donna Tipping said that that 'buzzing' and 'dullness' you get when you go to loud gigs can be the first sign of hearing damage. She says: "They will go away after a little while, but if you keep exposing yourself to loud music repeatedly you will cause damage to your hearing over time".
Giving more background on the noise issue, the BBC quote audiologist Angela King thus: "If you are in the sort of noise level that you get in a busy street, where you have to raise your voice to talk to somebody, you would have to be in that sort of noise for a long time, most of the working week on a regular basis, for it to be a real risk to hearing. But in clubs you can get noise levels over 100 decibels, and you can only safely be in that sort of noise level for less than two hours a week".
21 year old musician Christopher Woods, meanwhile, tells the Beeb how his hearing is already suffering because of his exposure to loud music. He says: "The damage is permanent. I have been told my hearing will never improve. Many people who have been working in the industry for a long time have a sustained level of hearing loss, and it is too late".
So take note people. Imagine a life where you couldn't listen to any music, and then look after your hearing. Here ends today's CMU preach.