Musicians ‘four times likelier’ to suffer hearing damage

Delphine1962 says:

Thank you very much for posting this link: it is, even today , a massively underestimated risk, especially amongst classical musicians who are not orchestra members. At least in that arena, there has been supportive education and resource provision, but it still often inadequate and side-lined.

I remember practising from 8am to 11pm (with significant breaks, obviously!) in a modern, low-ceilinged 3m square bricked room with two Steinway Bs in it, with no acoustic reverb, no place for the sound to travel outwards and away from my ears, for about seven years of study at a British conservatoire in the North West of England. I remember that my ears were “singing” at the end of each day and I would wake up the next day with the same noise. There was never the slightest suggestion that this might be highly damaging, and although things have fortunately moved on from the 80s, it is still widespread habit for students to be working for long hours with no ear protection, thus sowing the seeds of serious hearing problems at the peak of their careers.