We ask Dom Dolla about the importance of protecting your ears in Nightlife

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We ask Dom Dolla about the importance of protecting your ears in Nightlife

Working in nightlife can be a rewarding lifestyle and is a great way to meet people, but there are some downsides. One of the most common issues with working in nightlife is tinnitus.

For those who do not know what that is, tinnitus – as described by tinnitus.asn.au – is a “physical condition, experienced as noises or ringing in the ears or head when no such external physical noise is present. Tinnitus is usually caused by a fault in the hearing system; it is a symptom, not a disease in itself. The word “tinnitus” means “tinkling or ringing like a bell”.

Many of your favourite musicians suffer from tinnitus, and the condition can worsen over time from exposure to loud noises. One artist who struggles with the condition is Melbourne’s Dom Dolla, who shared some tips with us on how you an enjoy your nights out without the fear of tinnitus.

Dive into his guidelines below.

Dom’s Guide

Your average nightclub sits at around 110 dB (Decibels), often louder. Considering that anything over 85db is dangerous for our ears, at 110 dB you can accumulate permanent hearing damage in a very short number of minutes. If you assess that most people are in clubs or music venues for hours (or even days at festivals), it’s a no-brainer you really need to protect your ears. You don’t want to be paying for it with irreversible hearing loss. Or with the ever annoying, permanent tinnitus.

My obvious tip: My Obvious tip: grab yourself some 25+ dB reduction earplugs and wear those bad boys religiously. It will bring the 110 dB to around 85 dB (mathematics!) and keep the damage to a minimum. If you’re a punter or strapped for cash, over the counter earplugs from any chemist are much better than none. They don’t have to be super fancy or custom fitted. If you’re a DJ or musician and wish to invest, you can have musician’s plugs made up at any local audiology clinic.

A big tip to DJ’s is to resist the temptation to pull them out when you’re performing. If you keep them in, it’ll only be a matter of time before your brain cranks up your internal gain and you’re used to playing with them.

Although damage is often gradual, most people notice it quite suddenly – waking up one morning to a ringing that never stops, or a full-ness in the ear that can’t be unblocked. Unfortunately with noise induced hearing loss, it’s almost always irreversible.

We’re part of a generation that spends such a disproportionate amount of time around loud music. Whether it is at shows, or just turning up our headphone volume to block out crying babies on a plane. We think our grandparents are the deaf ones, but they’ll likely have nothing on us. Here’s a cheeky chart to explain safe exposure levels if you wish to educate yourself further:

http://www.noisehelp.com/noise-dose.html

http://www.industrialnoisecontrol.com/comparative-noise- examples.htm

Protect your ears legends!
Much love.
Grandpa Dom xx

Be sure to catch Dom Dolla’s set tonight at Sosueme. in Bondi tonight. Keep those ears safe, though!

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